s^ 

ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER: 

AN     OUTLINE     SKETCH 


OF 


His  Life -and  Public  Services. 

BY 

THE    DETROIT.   POST   AND    TRIBUNE. 

WITH    AN    INTRODUCTORY    LETTER 
FROM 

JAMES     G.    ELAINE,    OF    MAINE. 


O  iron  nerve  to  true  occasion  true, 
O  fall'n  at  length  that  tower  of  strength 
Which  stood  four  -  square  to  all  the  winds  that  blew  ! 

— Tennyson. 


DETROIT  : 

THE    POST    AND    TRIBUNE    COMPANY,    PUBLISHERS. 

R.    D.    S.    TYLER   &    CO.,    DETROIT.  TYLER    &    CO.,    CHICAGO, 

CHARLES   DREW,    NEW  YORK.  WM.    H.    THOMPSON  &   CO.,    BOSTON. 

J.    M.    OLCOTT,   INDIANAPOLIS. 

1880. 


E  lo  'c  f 


ENTERED  ACCORDING  TO  ACT  OF  CONGRESS,  IN  THE  YEAR  1879,  BY 

THE  DETROIT  POST  AND  TRIBUNE, 
IN  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  LIBRARIAN  OF  CONGRESS,  AT  WASHINGTON. 


Eiectrotyped  by 
A.  W.  HABBIN,  Detroit. 


PRESS  OF 

WRIGHTSON   A  CO. 
CINCINNATI,  O. 


TO 

THE    REPUBLICANS    OF    MICHIGAN, 

WHO  so  LONG  UPHELD,  AND  WHO  WERE  IMPLICITLY  TRUSTED  BY, 

ZACHAEIAH    CHANDLER, 

THIS   RECORD    OF   HIS    LIFE   IS 

DEDICATED. 


925747 


is  stated  elsewhere  that  this  work  is  written  "  BY  THE 
DETROIT  POST  AND  TRIBUNE.''  Unusual  as  this  form  of 
announcement  is  on  the  title-pages  of  books,  there  cer 
tainly  niay  be  an  authorial  as  well  as  an  editorial  impersonality; 
in  this  case  the  phrase  succinctly  expresses  the  fact,  namely,  that 
the  volume  represents  the  joint  labors  of  the  star!  of  THE  POST 
AND  TRIBUNE,  alike  in  the  collection  and  the  treatment  of  its 
material. 

While  its  preparation  has  been  almost  wholly  a  matter  of 
original  research,  such  use  as  was  necessary  has  been  made  of  his 
torical  data  contained  in  "  The  Centennial  History  of  Bedford, 
N.  II.,"  published  in  1851,  in  Horace  Greeley's  ''American  Con 
flict,"  and  in  Henry  Wilson's  u  History  of  the  Rise  and  Fail  of 
the  Slave  Power." 

Needed  information  lias  been  furnished  by  those  intimately 
connected  with  Mr.  CHANDLER,  but  the  work  has  not  been  sub 
mitted  to  their  revision,  and  they  are  not  responsible  for  the 
form  of  the  narrative,  nor  for  the  personal  estimate  it  embodies. 

This  book  presents  a  sketch  of  the  life  and  the  public 
services  of  a  remarkable  man.  It  has  been  written  from  the 
standpoint  of  political  sympathy,  and  with  the  hope  of  deepen 
ing  the  wholesome  influences  so  powerfully  exerted  upon  public 
sentiment  in  his  lifetime  by  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER.  The  aim 
has  been  to  make  it  accurate  in  statement,  and  to  see  that  its 
chapters  should  fairly  draw,  in  outline  at  least,  the  picture  of 
the  career  of  a  genuine  leader  of  men. 


INTRODUCTORY  LETTER. 


To  THE  EDITORS  OF  THE  POST  AND  TRIBUNE  : 

I  AM  unable  to  give  any  personal  or  special  incidents  in  the 
life  of  Mr.  Chandler  not  open  to  his  biographers  from  other 
sources.  I  was  not  so  intimate  in  my  relations  with  him  as 
were  some  others,  nor  did  I  know  him  better  than  many  others 
who  like  myself  were  associated  with  him  in  public  life  for  a 
long  period.  I  knew  him  well,  however,  both  on  the  side  of 
his  private  life  and  his  public  life,  and  in  every  phase  he  was  a 
man  of  strong  character. 

The  time  in  which  a  man  lives,  and  the  circumstances  by 
which  he  is  surrounded,  control  his  fate  even  more  largely  than 
his  personal  and  inherent  qualities.  Mr.  Chandler  was  fortunate 
in  the  time  of  his  removal  to  the  West,  fortunate  in  the  era 
which  brought  him  into  public  life.  When  he  became  a  citizen 
of  Michigan  the  days  of  hard  pioneer  life  were  ending,  extensive 
cultivation  of  the  soil  had  begun,  products  for  shipment  were 
large  and  rapidly  increasing.  Facilities  for  transportation  were 
already  great.  The  Erie  Canal  had  been  open  for  several  years, 
and  steamers  had  multiplied  on  the  Great  Lakes.  Everything  was 
in  readiness  for  a  strong-minded,  energetic,  competent  man  of 
business,  and  Mr.  Chandler  had  the  good  fortune  to  settle  in 
Detroit  at  the  precise  point  of  time  when  the  elements  of  sue- 


viii.  INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

cess  were  within  his  grasp.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  there 
after  his  career  was  that  of  a  business  man  intensely  devoted  to 
his  private  interests,  and  participating  in  public  affairs  only  as 
an  incident  and  with  no  effort  to  secure  advancement.  The 
result  of  this  steady  devotion  to  business  was  that  Mr.  Chandler 
found  himself  at  forty  -  four  years  of  age  possessed  of  a  large 
property,  constantly  and  rapidly  increasing  in  value. 

Coincident  with  this  condition  in  his  financial  fortunes  came 
a  crisis  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  country,  involving  the  class 
of  questions  which  took  deep  hold  on  the  mind  and  the  heart 
of  Mr.  Chandler.  The  curbing  of  the  slave  power,  the  assertion 
and  maintenance  of  freedom  on  free  soil,  undying  devotion  to 
the  Union  of  the  States,  and  the  bold  defense  of  the  rights  of  the 
citizen  —  these  were  the  issues  which  in  various  phases  absorbed 
the  public  mind  from  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise 
in  1851  down  to  the  close  of  Mr.  Chandler's  life.  And  on  all 
the  issues  presented  for  consideration  for  twenty -five  years  Mr. 
Chandler  never  halted,  never  wearied,  never  grew  timid,  never 
was  willing  to  compromise.  On  these  great  questions  he  became 
the  leader  of  Michigan,  and  Michigan  kept  Mr.  Chandler  at  the 
front  during  the  prolonged  struggle  which  has  wrought  such 
mighty  changes  in  the  history  of  the  American  people. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact,  not  infrequently  adverted  to,  that  the 
political  opinions  of  Michigan  both  as  Territory  and  State,  for  a 
period  of  sixty  years,  were  represented,  and  indeed  in  no  small 
degree  formed,  by  two  men  of  ]STew  Hampshire  birth.  From 
1819  to  1854  General  Cass  was  the  accepted  political  leader  of 


INTRODUCTORY    LETTER.  ix 

Michigan,  and  only  once  in  all  that  long  period  of  thirty -five 
years  did  her  people  fail  to  follow  him.  That  was  in  1840, 
when  the  old  pioneers  and  the  soldiers  of  1812  —  generally  the 
friends  of  Cass  —  refused  his  leadership,  and  voted  for  the  older 
pioneer  and  the  more  illustrious  chieftain,  William  Henry  Har 
rison.  From  1854  till  Mr.  Chandler's  death  the  dominant 
opinion  of  Michigan  was  with  him ;  and  her  people  followed 
him,  trusted  him,  believed  in  him.  During  that  quarter  of  a 
century  the  population  of  the  State  more  than  trebled  in  mini 
ber,  but  the  strength  of  Chandler  with  the  newcomers  seemed 
as  great  as  with  the  older  population  with,  whom  he  had  begun 
the  struggle  of  life  in  the  Territory  of  Michigan.  The  old  men 

OO  «/  O 

stood  firmly  by  him  in  the  faith  and  confidence  of  an  ancient 
friendship,  and  the  young  men  followed  with  an  enthusiasm 
which  grew  into  affection,  and  with  an  affection  which  ripened 
into  reverence. 

Mr.  Chandler's  life  in  Washington,  apart  from  his  public 
service,  was  a  notable  event  in  the  history  of  the  capital.  His 
wealth  enabled  him  to  be  generous  and  hospitable,  and  his 
elegant  mansion  was  a  center  of  attraction  for  many  years.  Nor 
were  the  guests  confined  to  one  party.  Mr.  Chandler  was  per 
sonally  popular  with  his  political  opponents,  and  the  leading  men 
of  the  Democratic  party  often  sat  at  his  table  and  forgot  in  the 
genial  host,  and  the  frank,  sincere  man,  all  the  bitterness  that 
might  have  come  from  conflict  in  the  partisan  arena. 

It  is  fitting  that  Mr.  Chandler's  life  be  written.  It  is  due, 
first  of  all,  to  his  memory.  It  is  due  to  those  who  come  after 


x  INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

him.  It  is  due  to  the  great  State  whose  Senator  he  was,  whose 
interests  he  served,  whose  honor  he  upheld.  I  am  glad  the  work 
is  committed  to  competent  friends,  who  can  discriminate  between 
honest  approval  and  inconsiderate  praise,  and  who  with  strict 
adherence  to  truth  can  find  in  his  career  so  much  that  is  honor 
able,  so  much  that  is  admirable,  so  little  that  is  censurable,  and 
nothing  that  is  mean. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

JAMES   G.  ELAINE. 

WASHINGTON,  February  15,  1880. 


TABLE    OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 
BIRTHPLACE  AND  ANCESTRY  IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 

PAGE. 

The  town  of  Bedford,  N.  H.  — King  Phillip's  War  — Land  grants  to  sur 
viving  soldiers  —  Souhegan  -  East  —  Grant  of  a  charter — Naming  the 
town  —  The  early  settlers — The  thirst  for  civil  and  religious  liberty 
—  Records  of  the  church  —  The  thrift  of  the  people  —  Native  humor  — 
A  patriotic  record — Services  in  three  wars 19 


CHAPTER    II. 

PARENTAGE  AND   CHILDHOOD. 

The  Chandlers  of  New  England  —  The  first  Zechariah  and  his  possessions 

—  Settlement   in   the    intervale    of    the   Merrimack  —  Genealogy  of   the 
family  —  Noted   family  connections —Prominence   in  church  and  State 
— The  family  residences  —  Birthplace  of  Zachariah  —  Inherited  traits  — 
A   strong,  self  -  reliant    boy  —  His  school  -  days  —  One   term   as   teacher 

—  Work   on  the   farm  —  Military   experience  —  Clerk   in   a  store  —  His 
journey  Westward  —  Affection  for  the  old  town — Some   of    Bedford's 
emigrants.  ............     31 

CHAPTER    III. 

REMOVAL   TO   MICHIGAN  —  MERCANTILE    SUCCESS  — BUSINESS   INVEST 
MENTS. 

Business  start  in  Detroit  —  The  cholera  epidemic  —  Caring  for  the  sick  — 
Characteristics  of  the  young  business  man  —  Nearest  approach  to  an 
assignment  —  Pushing  his  business  —  Visits  to  the  interior — Strong 
friendships  —  His  young  clerk  and  successor  —  Commercial  integrity 
and  sagacity  —  Accumulation  of  property  —  Helping  the  Government 
credit  —  Incorruptibility  as  a  Legislator.  ......  44 


xii.  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    IV. 
THE  PANORAMA  OF  NORTHWESTERN  DEVELOPMENT. 

PAGE. 

Early  explorations  of  the  Lakes  —  A  mission  at  the  Sault  —  Passage  of 
the  Strait  —  First  settlement  ai  Detroit  —  Steam  navigation  upon  the 
Lakes  —  Organization  of  the  Territory  —  An  imperial  domain  —  Detroit 
in  1833 —  Marvelous  development  of  a  great  City  and  State  —  Statistics 
of  1879.  54 

CHAPTER    V. 

THE  COMMENCEMENT  OP  POLITICAL  ACTIVITY  —  RECORD  AS  AN  ANTI- 
SLAVERY   WHIG. 

A  conspicuous  figure  in  politics  —  Lewis  C .iss,  his  career  and  character 
istics —  A  strong  contrast  —  Mr.  Chandler  as  a  Whig  —  A  sinewy  worker 
at  the  polls  —  The  Crosswhite  case  —  Making  a  firm  friend  —  Nomi 
nation  and  election  for  Mayor  —  A  sharp  campaign  —  Invitation  to 
Kossuth  —  Nominated  for  Governor  —  An  energetic  but  unsuccessful 
canvass  —  First  nomination  for  the  Senate.  71 


CHAPTER    VI. 
THE  FORMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY. 

The  Compromises  of  1820  and  1350  — Annexation  of  Texas  —  Calhoun's 
farewell  —  Profound  Northern  indignation  —  Memorable  debates  in 
Congress — "Free  Democrat"  action  in  Michigan  —  Public  anti  -  slavery 
meetings  and  private  conferences  —  The  Whig  Convention  at  Kalama- 
zoo  —  Steps  toward  union  —  A  stirring  address — "Under  the  Oaks" 
at  Jackson  —  A  notable  convention  —  Formation  of  the  Republican 
party  —  A  ringing  platform  —  The  first  of  a  series  of  uninterrupted 
successes  —  Work  of  Mr.  Chandler  in  the  campaign 


CHAPTER    VII. 
THE  FIRST  ELECTION  TO  THE  SENATE. 

Work  in  the  campaign  of  1850 — The  National  Conventions  —  Aid  in  mak 
ing  Michigan  radical  —  Republican  success  in  that  State  —  An  earnest 
Senatorial  canvass  —  Mr.  Chandler  nominated  over  Mr.  Christiancy  and 
others  —  His  election  —  Composition  of  the  Thirty -fifth  Congress  — 
Subsequent  career  of  his  associates.  ,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .119 


CONTENTS.  xiii. 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  CONSPIRACY  —  THE  ELECTION 
OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

PAGE. 

Preparations  for  Disunion  —  Imbecility  of  the  Administration  —  Gloomy 
forebodings  —  Mr.  Chandler's  first  prepared  address  —  A  vigorous  and 
unanswerable  speech  —  The  Drcd  Scott  decision — The  John  Brown 
raid  —  A  warning  to  traitors  —  Denunciation  of  treason  —  Personal 
peril  — Giving  "satisfaction"  to  Southern  "gentlemen" — Mr.  Chandler 
not  to  be  bullied  —  The  Chandler,  Cameron  and  Wade  compact  .  .  133 

CHAPTER    IX. 
SERVICES  TO  THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  PROTECTION  OF  HOME  INDUSTRY. 

Beneficence  of  "The  American  System" — Reply  to  the  "mud -sill" 
speech  —  Defense  of  free  Northern  labor — Review  of  the  tariff  con 
troversy —  The  Morrill  tariff  of  1861 — Modifications  proposed  in  1867 

—  The  priceless  value  of  the  skilled  mechanic.       .....  151 

CHAPTER    X. 

SERVICES    TO    NORTHWESTERN     COMMERCIAL     INTERESTS    AND    THE 
CAUSE   OF   INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS. 

The  Committee  on  Commerce  as  first  organized  —  Unavailing  protests  — 
Mr.  Chandler's  first  speech  in  the  Senate  — The  St.  Clair  Flats 
improvement — A  defeat  and  significant  prophecy — The  work,  its  cost 
and  value  —  Mr.  Chandler  a  member  and  then  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Commerce  —  The  wide  scope  of  that  committee's  labors 

—  One-hilf   of   the    entire    amount  expended  by  the  United  States  for 
rivers  and  harbors  appropriated  during  Mr.   Chandler's  chairmanship  .  164 

CHAPTER    XI. 

THE  OUTBREAK    OF  THE  REBELLION  —  No   COMPROMISE   OF   CONSTI 
TUTIONAL  RIGHTS. 

First  formal  step  of  secession  —  Buchanan's  "No  coercion"  message  — 
Organization  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  —  Mr.  Chandler  opposes 
compromise — Thwarting  the  plots  of  rebel  leaders  —  Securing  the 
appointment  of  Secretary  Stanton  —  Unwritten  reminiscences  —  Denun 
ciation  of  traitors  and  imbeciles  —  The  proposed  Peace  Congress  — 
— The  "  blood  -  letter  "  and  its  justification 


xiv.  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XII. 
THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 

PAGE. 

President  Lincoln's  arrival  in  Washington  — Mr.  Chandler's  advice  as  to 
the  Cabinet  — Conciliatory  character  of  the  inaugural— An  illustration 
of  Southern  perfidy  —  Surrender  of  Fort  Sumter  — A  Detroit  meeting 

—  ''But  one  sentiment  here"  —  Reception  of   Michigan  men  in  Wash 
ington—Visit  to  Fortress  Monroe  —  Crossing  the  Potomac  —  Proposed 
confiscation  of  rebel  property — 'Two  parties  in  the  country,  patriots 
and  traitors" — Vindication  of  Michigan's   record  —  An  advance  move 
ment  urged.         ............  201 

CHAPTER    XIII. 
THE  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  CONDUCT  OF  THE  WAR. 

Tue  disaster  at  Ball's  Bluff  —  A  committee  of  inquiry  proposed  by  Mr. 
Chandler  —  Organization  of  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the 
War  —  Opposition  and  subsequent  co-operation  of  the  Administration 

—  Confidential  Relations  with  President  Lincoln  and   Secretaries  Cam 
eron  and    Stanton  —  Laying    out    work  —  Mr.    Chandler's  great   speech 
against   McClellan  —  Distrust   of  McClellanism  in   politics  —  The   Fitz- 
Jolm  Porter  case  —  Last  work  of  the  committee.    .....  215 

CHAPTER    XIV. 
THE  VIGOROUS  PROSECUTION  OF  THE  WAR. 

The  political  reverses  of  1862— The  "Union  movement"  in  Michigan  — 
Re-election  of  Senator  Chandler  —  Proposition  to  arm  the  colored 
people— The  Fremont  proclamation  and  the  Hunter  order — Opposi 
tion  to  the  colonization  schemes  —  Influence  with  the  Secretary  of  War 
—  The  Trent  affair  —  Aid  to  Michigan  soldiers  in  the  Washington  hos 
pitals —  ''We  must  accept  no  compromise."  ......  250 

CHAPTER    XV. 
THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1884. 

The  political  and  military  successes  of  1863  —  The  Cleveland  convention  — 
Nomination  of  Fremont  and  Cochrane  —  Renomination  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  —  Resignation  of  Secretary  Chase  —  Peace  negotiations  at  Ni 
agara  Falls  —  The  Wade -Davis  manifesto  —  Nomination  of  McClellan 

—  Mr.  Chandler's  conferences  with  the  disaffected  Republicans  —  Resig 
nation    of    Postmaster  -  General    Blair  —  Withdrawal    of    the    Fremont 
ticket  —  An  overwhelming  political  triumph.    ....  ,  263 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  ANDREW  JOHNSON  —  RECONSTRUCTION  AND 
IMPEACHMENT. 

PAGE 

The  Assassination  of  President  Lincoln  —  The  War  Committee  meet  Presi 
dent  Johnson  —  Revengeful  disposition  of  the  new  Executive  —  Legal 
questions  m  reference  to  the  trial  of  traitors  —  An  important  paper  by 
Benjamin  F.  Butler  —  A  practicable  method  for  prosecuting  Jeff. 
Davis  —  Change  of  sentiment  in  President  Johnson  —  He  abandons  the 
party  that  elected  him  —  Development  of  his  "policy"  —  Hindrance  to 
successful  reconstruction  —  The  impeachment  resolutions  and  trial  — 
Disappointment  of  Mr.  Chandler  at  the  failure  to  convict  —  General 
work  in  the  Thirty  -  ninth  and  Fortieth  Congresses.  .  .  .  279 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE  PRESIDENCY  OP  GENERAL  GRANT— THE  REPUBLICAN  CONGRES 
SIONAL  COMMITTEE. 

Work  in  the  campaign  of   1868  —  Mr.  Chandler's   re-election  to  the  Senate 

—  The  Fifteenth  Amendment   and    the   Civil    Rights    bill  — Edwin    M. 
Stantou's  death  and   the    fund    for   his    family  —  Mr.   Chandler  s   oppo 
sition    to    Southern    war    claims  —  His    purchase    of    the    Confederate 
archives — The  value  of  these  documents — Election   of    Senator  Ferry 

—  Mr.  Chandler's  fidelity  to  his  friends  —  His  denunciation  of  Southern 
outrages  —  His  comparison  of   the  two  parties — His   defense   of    Presi 
dent    Grant    against    Charles    Simmer's    attacks  — The   "Salary   Grab" 
opposed  by  Senator  Chandler  and  his  colleague —The  Republican  Con 
gressional    Committee    and   its    efficient    work  —  Intimacy  between    Mr. 
Chandler  and  James  M    Edmunds  —  The  latter's  usefulness.  .         .  298 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
THE  MAINTENANCE  OF  A  SOUND  CURRENCY  AND  THE  PUBLIC  FAITH. 

Condition  of  the  government  credit  in  1801— The  first  issue  of  "green 
backs"— Mr.  Chandler's  opposition  to  any  increase  in  the  amount  — 
Taxation  recommended  as  a  substitute —  Opposition  to  the  taxation  of 
national  bonds  — Arguments  for  payment  in  com  of  the  "greenbacks" 
and  bonds  —  Advocacy  of  the  national  bank  system— The  panic  of 
1873  —  Resistance  to  every  measure  of  inflation  —  Mr.  Chandler's 
speeches  in  January  and  February,  1874— The  Resumption  act.  .  319 


xvi.  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 
SECRETARY  OP  THE  INTERIOR  IN  THE  CABINET  OF  PRESIDENT  GRANT. 

PAGE. 

Political  reverses  of  1874  —  The  contest  in  Michigan  a  complicated  one  — 
Republican  success  by  a  narrow  margin  —  A  close  Legislature  —  Resist 
ance  to  Mr.  Chandler's  re-election  —  His  pronounced  success  in  his 
party  caucus  —  A  combination  of  a  few  Republicans  with  the  Dem 
ocrats  elects  Judge  Christiancy  —  Like  results  elsewhere  —  Mr.  Chand 
ler's  confidence — "A  candidate  for  that  seat" — Letter  to  the  Repub 
lican  members  of  the  Legislature —A  seeming  calamity  proves  to  be 
a  benefit  — Appointment  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior — Changes  in  the 
personnel  of  the  Department —  How  Alonzo  Bell  became  Chief  Clerk 
—  The  first  blow  falls  —  An  entire  room  closed  as  a  measure  of  "prac 
tical  reform"  —  Purification  of  the  Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs — "The 
most  valuable  men"  suddenly  dismissed  —  Order  against  the  "Indian 
attorneys"  —  President  Grant's  support  —  Changes  in  the  Bureau  of 
Pensions  and  the  General  Land  Office  — Mr.  Chandler's  admirable 
executive  qualities  recognized  —  Anecdotes  of  his  Cabinet  service  — 
Fighting  the  patronage- seekers —  A  cowardly  informer  —  A  head  to 
the  Department — An  investigation  that  failed — "Pumping  a  dry 
well  "—Close  of  Mr.  Chandler's  term  —  Tributes  of  Secretary  Schurz 
to  the  practical  efficiency  of  his  predecessor. 337 


CHAPTER    XX. 

THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1876  —  AT  HOME  —  THE  MARSH 
FARM  NEAR  LANSING. 

Mr.  Chandler  made  Chairman  of  the  National  Republican  Committee  — 
His  original  confidence  m  the  result  —  Apathy  in  the  West  —  Aid  to 
Oiiio  —  The  closeness  of  the  contest  apparent  —  Measures  to  snatch 
victory  from  the  jaws  of  defeat  —  Mr.  Chandler's  firm  attitude  during 
the  remainder  of  the  contest  —  Its  great  value  —  Dissent  from  the 
"policy"  of  the  new  Administration — A  Cabinet  anecdote  —  Mr.  Chand 
ler  retires  to  private  life  —  A  visit  to  the  Pacific  coast  —  Other  extended 
trips— The  marsh  farm  near  Lansing,  Michigan  —  An  important  ex 
periment  in  the  reclamation  of  wet  lands  —  Mr.  Chandler's  "expensive 
theory"— The  method  of  drainage  explained  and  illustrated  in  detail 

—  Successful  results  of  the  earlier  experiments  in  cultivation  —  General 
farm  equipment  —  Houses,  barns   and   stock  —  Relaxation   at   the  farm 

—  Mr.   Chandler's  correspondence  — The   answering  of  every  letter  his 
rule  —  The  power  of  his  oratory  —  Terse   sentences,  Saxon  words,  and 
brief  speeches  his  aim  — The  sincerity  and  honesty  of  the  man — The 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

strength  of  his  friendships  —  His  hearty  social  qualities  —  His  Wash 
ington  and  Detroit  residences  described  —  Narrow  escape  from  a  seri 
ous  accident  In  1858  — Mr.  Chandler's  family — His  domestic  happiness 

—  His  wife  and  daughter  his  sole  heirs. 356 

CHAPTER    XXI. 

THE   MICHIGAN   ELECTION   OF    1878  — MR,    CHANDLER'S  RETURN   TO 
THE  SENATE  — "TiiE  JEFF.  DAVIS  SPEECH." 

Development  of  "Greenback"  strength  in  the  West  —  Resolute  resistance 
in  Michigan  to  the  spread  of  financial  heresy— Mr.  Chandler  leads  the 
Republican  battle  —  A  great  victory  —  It  is  followed  by  his  fourth 
election  to  the  Senate  —  He  takes  his  seat  in  time  to  answer  rebel 
eulogies  in  the  Senate  on  Jeff.  Davis  —  His  brief  and  telling  response 

—  It  strikes  the  chord  of   patriotic    feeling  — The    popular   response  — 
The    "extra    session"    of    1879  —  Mr.    Chandler's    last    Congressional 
speech 374 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1879  —  MR.  CHANDLER'S  LAST  DAYS  —  DEATH  AND 

FUNERAL. 

Mr.  Chandler  at  the  front  in  the  political  contests  of  1879  — He  is  greeted 
by  a  popular  ovation  —  His  name  urged  for  the  Republican  presidential 
nonination  in  1880  —  Grant  his  own  choice  —  Work  affects  his  strong 
constitution  —  His  Chicago  speech  —  Dead  in  his  bed  at  the  Grand 
Pacific  Hotel  on  Nov.  1,  1879  !  — The  national  grief —  Funeral  and 
burial.  .  .  .386 


APPENDIX. 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER'S   LAST    SPEECH:     DELIVERED    IN    McCoR- 
MICK  HALL,  IN  THE  CITY  OF  CHICAGO,  ON  OCTOBER  31,  1879. 

THE  DORIC  PILLAR  OF  MICHIGAN  .  A  MEMORIAL  ADDRESS,  DELIV 
ERED  IN  THE  FORT  STREET  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  DETROIT,  ON 
NOVEMBER  27,  1879,  BY  THE  REV.  A  T.  PIERSON,  D.  D. 

2 


LIST    OF    ILLITSTEATIOKS. 


PAGE. 

STEEL  PORTRAIT  OF  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER,        .        .        .      Frontispiece. 

THE  CHANDLER  HOMESTEAD  AT  BEDFORD,  N.  H., 33 

THE  BIRTHPLACE  OF  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER 35 

THE  ENTRY  OF  THE  BIRTH  OF  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER  IN  THE  FAMILY 

BIBLE, 37 

THE  SCHOOL  HOUSE  AT  BKDFORD,  N.  H., 39 

THE  CHANDLER  BLOCK  (Detroit),         .                          49 

DETROIT  IN   1834, 65 

FAC- SIMILE  OF  THE  "TEMPERANCE  TICKET"  OF  1852  IN  MICHIGAN,      .  86 
Tim   FIRST  REPUBLICAN   STATE    CONVENTION  —  ("Under  the    Oaks"   at 

Jackson,  Mich.,  July  6,   1854), Ill 

THE  NATIONAL  CAPITOL  AT  WASHINGTON, 127 

THE  SHIP  CANAL  AT  THE  ST.  CLAIR  FLATS, 173 

PORTRAIT  OF  SENATOR  CHANDLER  IN  1862, 217 

PORTRAIT  OF  THE  LATE  JAMES  M.  EDMUNDS,     .         .....  315 

THE  INTERIOR  DEPARTMENT  AT  WASHINGTON,            341 

THE    CABINET   OF    PRESIDENT   GRANT  — 1876-77 — (From   a   Sketch  by 

Mrs.  C.  Adele  Fassett), 347 

THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR,           ....  353 

PLAT  OF  THE  MARSH  FARM, 361 

THE  "  BIG  DITCH"  OF  THE  MARSH  FARM,          ......  363 

THE  MAIN  HOUSE  AT  THE  MARSH  FARM,            ......  365 

THE  LARGE  BARN  AT  THE  MARSH  FARM, 367 

MR    CHANDLER'S  RESIDENCE  AT  WASHINGTON, 369 

Mu.   CHANDLER'S  RESIDENCE  AT  DETROIT, 371 

THE  STATE  CAPITOL  OF  MICHIGAN,      ........  377 

SENATOR  CHANDLER  DENOUNCING  THE  EULOGIES  UPON  JEFF.  DAVIS  IN 

THE  SENATE  CHAMBER  AT  3  A.  M.  OF  MONDAY,  MARCH  3,  1879,          •  381 

THE  GRAND  PACIFIC  HOTEL  AT  CHICAGO, 389 

PROFILE   BUST  OF  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER  —  (A  sketch   from  Leonard  W. 

Volk's  Plaster  Cast), 391 

THE  TRIBUTE  OF  GEN.  U.  S.  GRANT  (fac- simile), 393 


ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

BIRTHPLACE     AND     ANCESTRY     IN     NEW     ENGLAND. 

the  valley  of  the  Merrimack,  fifty  miles  northwest  from 
Boston,  is  the  New  Hampshire  town  of  Bedford.  It  is  a 
community  of  thrifty  farms,  with  striking  characteristics, 
and  almost  a  century  and  a  half  of  entertaining  history. 
Simplicity  of  manners  and  sturdiness  of  character  prevail  among 
its  people  to-day,  and  the  vigor  of  the  stock  of  its  original  set 
tlers,  the  loftiness  of  their  traditions,  and  the  pnritanism  of  its 
civilization  have  made  it  a  mirsery  of  strong  men. 

King  Philip's  War  ended  in  a  Pyrrhic  victory  for  the  New 
England  provinces.  The  subjugation  of  the  savages  was  only 
accomplished  when  one  in  twenty  of  the  men  among  the  col 
onists  had  fallen  and  a  like  proportion  of  their  families  was 
houseless,  and  it  left  behind  it  what  was  in  those  days  a  heavy 
debt.  More  than  half  a  century  elapsed  before  there  was  any 
substantial  recognition  of  the  claims  of  the  survivors  of  that  war 
and  their  descendants.  It  was  not  until  1732,  after  numerous 
petitions  and  prolonged  discussion,  that  "  the  Great  and  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts  "  granted  land  enough  for  two  townships 
"  to  the  soldiers  who  had  served  in  King  Philip's  or  the  Narra- 
gansett  War  and  to  their  surviving  heirs-at-law."  This  grant  was 


20  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

subsequently  enlarged  to  seven  townships,  as  appears  from  the 
.following  recQrd  of  proceedings  in  "  the  Great  and  General  Court 
or  AssemHby  -,for  His  Majestie's  Province  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bay/'*  'nude*  date  of  April  26,  1733  : 

A  Petition  of  a  Committee  for  the  Narragansett  Soldiers,  showing  that 
there  are  the  number  of  Eight  Hundred  and  Forty  Persons  entered  as  officers 
and  soldiers  in  the  late  Narragansett  War,  Praying  that  there  may  be  such 
an  addition  of  Land  granted  to  them,  as  may  allow  a  Tract  of  six  miles 
Square  to  each  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  so  admitted. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Read,  and  Ordered  that  the  Prayer  of 
the  Petition  be  granted,  and  that  Major  Chandler,  Mr.  Edward  Shove,  Col. 
Thomas  Tileston,  Mr.  John  Hobson  and  Mr.  Samuel  Chandler  (or  any  three 
of  them,)  be  a  Committee  fully  authorized  and  empowered  to  survey  and  lay 
out  live  more  Tracts  of  Land  for  Townships,  of  the  Contents  of  Six  miles 
Square  each,  in  some  of  the  unappropriated  lands  of  this  Province  ;  and  that 
the  said  land,  together  with  the  two  towns  before  granted,  be  granted  and 
disposed  of  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  or  their  lawful  Representatives,  as  they 
are  or  have  been  allowed  by  this  Court,  being  eight  hundred  and  forty  in 
number,  in  the  whole,  and  in  full  satisfaction  of  the  Grant  formerly  made 
them  by  the  General  Court,  as  a  reward  for  their  public  service.  And  the 
Grantees  shall  be  obliged  to  assemble  within  as  short  time  as  they  can  conven 
iently,  not  exceeding  the  space  of  two  months,  and  proceed  to  the  choice  of 
Committees,  respectively,  to  regulate  each  Propriety  or  Township  wThich  is  to 
be  held  and  enjoyed  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  of  the  Grantees,  each  in 
equal  Proportion,  who  shall  pass  such  orders  and  rules  as  will  effectually 
oblige  them  to  settle  Sixty  families,  at  least,  within  each  Township,  with  a 
learned,  orthodox  ministry,  within  the  space  of  seven  years  of  the  date  of  this 
Grant,  Provided,  always,  that  if  the  said  Grantees  shall  not  effectually  settle 
the  said  number  of  families  in  each  Township,  and  also  lay  out  a  lot  for  the 
first  settled  minister,  one  for  the  ministry,  and  one  for  the  school,  in  each  of 
the  said  townships,  they  shall  have  no  advantage  of,  but  forfeit  their  respective 
grants,  anything  to  the  contrary  contained  notwithstanding.  The  Charge  of 
the  Survey  to  be  paid  by  the  Province. 

In  Council  read  and  concur'd.  J.  BELCHER. 

In  June  of  1733  these  grantees  met  on  Boston  Common  for 
the  purpose  of  making  a  division  of  the  lands  thus  appropriated, 
but  twenty  veterans  of  the  l^arragansett  War  being  then  liv 
ing.  They  organized  into  seven  societies,  each  representing  one 
hundred  and  twenty  persons,  and  each  represented  by  an  execu- 


BIRTHPLACE    AND    ANCESTRY.  21 

tive  committee  of  three.  These  committees  convened  in  Boston 
on  the  17th  of  October,  1733,  and,  by  drawing  numbers  from  a 
hat,  apportioned  to  their  societies  the  following  seven  townships 
set  apart  from  the  public  domain  under  the  grant :  No.  1, 
in  Maine,  now  called  Buxton ;  'No.  2,  Westminster,  Mass.  ; 
No.  3,  Souhegan-West,  now  Amherst,  X.  II. ;  No.  4,  originally 
at  the  Falls  of  the  Amoskeag,  where  GofTstown  now  is  (subse 
quently  exchanged  for  lands  in  Ilampdeii  county,  Mass.);  No.  5, 
Souhegan-East,  N.  II. ;  'No.  6,  Templeton,  Mass. ;  No.  7,  Gor- 
ham,  Me.  Thomas  Tileston,  of  Dorchester,  drew  "Number  5, 
Souhegan-East;"  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  grantees 
whom  he  represented,  fifty-seven  belonged  to  Boston,  fifteen  to 
Roxbury,  seven  to  Dorchester,  two  to  Milton,  five  to  Braintree, 
four  to  "Weymouth,  thirteen  to  Ilingham,  four  to  Dedham,  two 
to  Hull,  one  to  Medneld,  five  to  Scituate,  and  one  to  Newport, 
R.  I.  In  the  fifteen  Eoxbury  grantees  was  Zechariah  Chandler, 
who  was  one  of  the  few  who  personally  took  up  land  under  the 
grant  and  settled  upon  it  one  of  his  own  family.  As  a  rule 
the  grantees  sold  their  claims  to  others.  On  the  town  records 
Zechariah  Chandler's  name  is  signed  in  the  right  of  his  wife's 
father,  Thomas  Bishop,  who  served  against  King  Philip.  His 
son,  Thomas  Chandler,  took  possession  of  the  land  and  was 
among  the  pioneers  of  the  town.  To-day  the  Chandler  family 
is  believed  to  be  the  only  representative  in  Bedford  of  the 
original  grantees.  It  was  in  1737,  1738,  and  1739  that  syste 
matic  settlement  practically  began  in  this  part  of  the  Merrimack 
valley. 

In  1741  New  Hampshire  became  a  separate  province,  and 
in  1748  the  farmers  of  Souhegan-East,  finding  themselves  without 
any  township  organization  and  without  the  power  to  legally 
transact  corporate  business,  called  upon  the  government  for  relief. 
As  a  result,  it  is  recorded  that  on  the  llth  of  April  in  that 
year  Gov.  Benning  "Wentworth  informed  the  Council  of  New 


22  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Hampshire  uof  the  situation  of  a  number  of  persons  inhabiting 
"a  place  called  Souhegan-East,  within  this  Province,  that  were 
"without  any  township  or  District,  and  had  not  the  privilege  of 
"a  town  in  choosing  officers  for  regulating  their  affairs,  such  as 
"raising  money  for  the  ministry,"  etc.  Thereupon  a  provisional 
township  organization  was  authorized,  under  which  the  munici 
pality  was  managed  until  1750,  when,  on  the  10th  of  May,  the 
following  petition  was  sent  to  the  Governor,  signed  by  thirty- 
eight  citizens,  among  them  Thomas  Chandler : 

To  his  Excellency,  Benning  "Wentworth,  Esq.,  Governor  and  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  liis  Majesty's  Province  of  New  Hampshire,  and  to  the  Honorable, 
his  Majesty's  Council,  assembled  at  Portsmouth,  May  10,  1750. 

The  humble  Petition  of  the  subscribers,  inhabitants  of  Souhegan-East, 
so-called,  sheweth,  That  your  Petitioners  are  major  part  of  said  Souhegan ; 
that  your  petitioners,  as  to  our  particular  persuasion  in  Christianity,  are 
generally  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination  ;  that  your  petitioners,  through  a 
variety  of  causes,  having  long  been  destitute  of  the  gospel,  are  now  desirous 
of  taking  proper  steps  in  order  to  have  it  settled  among  us  in  that  way  of 
discipline  which  we  judge  to  tend  most  to  our  edification  ;  that  your  petition 
ers,  not  being  incorporated  by  civil  authority,  are  in  110  capacity  to  raise 
those  sums  of  money,  which  may  be  needful  in  order  to  our  proceeding  in  the 
above  important  affair.  May  it  therefore  please  your  Excellency,  and  Honors, 
to  take  the  case  of  your  petitioners  under  consideration,  and  to  incorporate  us 
into  a  town  or  district,  or  in  case  any  part  of  our  inhabitants  should  be  taken 
off  by  any  neighboring  district,  to  grant  that  those  of  our  persuasion,  who  are 
desirous  of  adhering  to  us,  may  be  excused  from  supporting  any  other  parish 
charge,  than  where  they  conscientiously  adhere,  wre  desiring  the  same  liVerty 
to  those  within  our  bounds,  if  any  there  be,  and  your  petitioners  shall  ever 
pray,  &c. 

This  petition  was  presented  on  May  18,  1750,  to  the  Council, 
which  unanimously  advised  the  granting  of  a  charter,  and  this  the 
Governor  did  upon  the  following  day.  The  name  of  the  towTn 
was  changed  by  Governor  Wentworth  from  Souhegan-East  to 
Bedford,  it  is  said  in  honor  of  the  fourth  Duke  of  Bedford,  then 
Secretary  of  State  in  the  ministry  of  George  II.  This  was  the 
formal  organization  of  the  present  town,  which  has  a  territorial 
extent  of  about  twenty  thousand  acres  of  land. 


BIRTHPLACE    AND    ANCESTRY.  23 

Of  the  early  population  of  this  and  neighboring  towns  "  The 
Centennial  History  of  Bedford  "  (published  in  1851)  says  : 

With  few  exceptions  the  early  inhabitants  of  the  town  were  from  the 
North  of  Ireland  or  from  the  then  infant  settlement  of  Londonderry,  N.  H., 
to  which  they  had  recently  emigrated  from  Ireland.  Their  ancestors  were  of 
Scotch  origin.  About  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  they  went  in 
considerable  numbers  from  Argylshire,  in  the  West  of  Scotland,  to  the 
counties  of  Londonderry  and  Antrim,  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  from  which  in 
1718  a  great  emigration  took  place  to  this  country.  Some  arrived  at  Boston, 
and  some  at  Casco  Bay  near  Portland,  which  last  were  the  settlers  of  London 
derry.  Many  towns  in  this  vicinity  were  settled  from  this  colony.  Windham, 
Chester,  Litchtield,  Manchester,  Bedford,  Goffstown,  New  Boston,  Antrim, 
Peterborough  and  Acworth  derived  from  Londonderry  a  considerable  propor 
tion  of  their  first  inhabitants. 

Many  of  their  descendants  have  risen  to  high  respectability,  among  whom 
are  numbered  four  Governors  of  New  Hampshire,  one  of  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  several  distinguished  officers  in  the  Revolutionary 
War  and  in  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  including  Stark,  Reid,  Miller, 
and  McNeil,  a  President  of  Bowdoin  College,  some  Members  of  Congress, 
and  several  distinguished  ministers  of  the  gospel. 

It  was  a  Scottish  stock,  with  an  Irish  preceding  the  American 
transplanting,  that  peopled  Bedford.  There  wrere  among  its  origi 
nal  settlers  a  few  families  of  English  and  fewer  still  of  pure 
Milesian  extraction,  but  the  Scotch  descent  was  overwhelmingly 
predominant,  a-nd  the  austere  theology  and  noble  traditions  of  the 
Kirk  of  Scotland  formed  the  leaven  of  the  community.  Their 
religious  history  dated  back  to  John  Kiiox.  Their  immediate 
ancestors  were  the  sturdy  Presbyterians  with  whom  James  I. 
colonized  depopulated  Ulster  after  he  had  crushed  the  Catholic 
uprisings.  Those  involuntary  colonists  made  that  the  most  pros 
perous  of  the  Irish  provinces,  and  at  a  critical  moment  for  the 
cause  of  Protestantism  added  to  the  annals  of  heroic  endurance 
the  defense  of  Londonderry  against  the  army  of  James  II.  But 
to  their  simple  and  tenacious  faith  the  tithes  and  rents  of  the 
Anglican  Church  were  scarcely  less  abhorrent  than  Catholic  per 
secution,  and  the  example  of  Puritan  emigration  ultimately  led 


24  ZACIIARIAH    CHANDLER. 

them  by  thousands  to  American  shores.  Much  of  this  tide  of 
settlement  was  diverted  by  the  Puritan  pre-oecnpation  of  Xew 
England  soil  to  the  Middle  and  Southern  States,  but  a  strong 
current  set  up  into  northern  Kew  England  and  occupied  (with 
much  other  territory)  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack.  It  was  to 
these  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians  that  the  greater  number  of  the 
grantees  of  Bedford  — as  a  rule  the  descendants  of  Massachusetts 
Puritans  —  sold  their  claims,  and  the  community  became  what 
their  labors  and  influence  made  it.  The  Chandler  (representing 
an  original  grantee)  was  one  of  the  few  Bedford  families  which 
sprang  from  English  stock  and  possessed  Puritan  antecedents. 

The  settlement  of  Bedford  was  thus  the  outgrowth  of  an 
unquenchable  thirst  for  civil  and  religious  liberty.  A  profound 
conscientiousness  added  these  simple,  devout,  frugal,  and  indus 
trious  people  to  the  pioneer  assailants  of  the  Kortli  American 
wilderness.  The  ancient  records  and  the  published  annals  of  the 
town  afford  a  quaintly  interesting  picture  of  early  !N"ew  England 
civilization.  Its  background  is  the  rock  of  religious  faith,  and  to 
repeat  the  chronicles  of  the  Bedford  church  for  the  eighteenth 
century  is  to  write  the  history  of  the  township  for  that  period. 
The  original  grant  required  the  maintenance  of  "  a  learned, 
orthodox  ministry."  The  petition  for  the  charter  of  Bedford  set 
forth  that  "  your  petitioners,  as  to  our  particular  persuasion  in 
Christianity,  are  generally  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination,1' 
and  assigned  as  the  chief  reason  for  asking  incorporation  that 
they  "  having  been,  long  destitute  of  the  gospel,  are  now  desir- 
"  ous  of  taking  the  proper  steps  in  order  to  have  it  settled 
"  among  us,"  but  "  not  being  incorporated  by  civil  authority  are 
"  in  no  capacity  to  raise  those  sums  of  money  which  may  be  need 
ful."  The  official  records  of  formal  township  proceedings  abound 
in  such  entries  as  these  : 

Feb.  15,  1748.  Voted  — That  one  third  of  the  time,  Preaching  shall  be  to 
accommodate  the  inhabitants  at  the  upper  end  of  the  town  ;  one  other  third 
part,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  town;  the  last  third,  about  StrawTberrie  hill 


BIRTHPLACE    AND    ANCESTRY.  25 

July  26,  1750.  Voted,  There  be  a  call  given  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Alexander 
Boyd,  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  in  this  town. 

M'irch  28,  1753.  Voted,  Unanimously,  to  present  a  call  for  Mr.  Alexander 
McDowell,  to  the  Rev'd  Presbytery  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  in  this  town. 

March  13,  1757.  Voted,  —  That  Capt.  Moses  Ban-on,  Robert  Walker,  and 
Samuel  Patten,  be  a  committee  for  boarding  and  shingling  the  meeting-house. 

March,  1767.  Voted,  —  That  the  same  committee  who  built  the  pulpit, 
paint  it,  and  paint  it  the  same  color  the  Rev.  Mr.  McGregor's  pulpit  is,  in 
Londonderry. 

June,  1768.  The  meeting-house  glass  lent  out*;  Matthew  Little's  account 
of  the  same.  David  Moore  had  from  Matthew  Little,  six  squares  of  the 
meeting-house  glass  ;  Daniel  Moor  had  4  squares  of  the  same,  Dea.  Gilmore 
had  of  the  same,  24  squares.  November  20,  1708,  The  Rev.  Mr.  John  Houston, 
had  24  squares  of  the  same  ;  Hugh  Campbell  had  12  squares  of  the  same  ; 
Dea.  Smith  is  to  pay  Whitfield  Gilmore  6  squares  of  the  same  ;  James  Wallace 
had  15  squares  of  the  same  ;  John  Bell  had  9  squares  of  the  same  ;  Joseph 
Scobey,  one  quart  of  oil. 

A  true  record.  Attest,  WILLIAM  WHITE,   Town  Clerk. 

[Extract  from  the  "town  meeting  warrant"  (call)  for  1779]  :  As  for  some 
time  past,  the  Sabbath  has  been  greatly  profaned,  by  persons  traveling  with 
burthens  upon  the  same,  when  there  is  no  necessity  for  it, —  to  see  Avhether 
the  town  will  not  try  to  provide  some  remedy  for  the  same,  for  the  future. 

Tlie  Bedford  church,  lias  been  ever  the  center  of  all  public 
activity.  Its  officers  have  been  the  officers  of  the  town.  From 
its  pulpit  have  been  made  all  formal  announcements.  Within  its 
walls  have  been  inspired  every  important  home  measure,  and  its 
influence  has  stimulated  each  wise  public  action.  In  the  early 
records  the  school-house  also  shares  prominence  with  the  meeting 
house,  and  the  later  generations  of  Bedford's  inhabitants  were  men 
and  women  of  solid  primary  education  and  thorough  religions 
training.  Thrift  and  industry  made  them  prosperous,  and  they 
raised  large  families  of  powerful  men  and  vigorous  women. 
The  mothers  and  daughters  shared  in  the  field  work,  and  even 

*The  glass  for  the  meeting-house  was  procured  before  the  building  was  ready  for  it, 
and  it  was  loaned  to  different  members  ;  the  careful  record  kept  shows  how  scarce  and 
costly  an  article  it  then  was. 


26  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

carried  on  foot  to  Boston  the  linen  thread  from  their  busy  spin 
ning  wheels.  Physical  and  moral  strength  characterized  the  race, 
and  they  built  up  a  community  of  comfortable  homes,  severe 
virtues,  strong  religious  instincts,  a  stern  morality,  and  long  lives. 
Neither  poverty  nor  riches  were  to  be  found  among  them,  and 
the  simplest  habits  prevailed.  Silks  were  unknown,  and  home 
made  linen  was  the  choicest  fabric.  Brown  bread  was  the  staple 
of  life,  and  wheat  flour  a  luxury.  Tea  and  coffee  were  rarely 
seen,  but  barley  broth  was  on  all  tables.  Shoes  were  only  worn 
in  winter,  except  to  church  on  Sundays  when  they  were  carried 
in  the  hand  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  meeting-house.  The 
saddle  and  pillion  were  used  in  journeys.  Splinters  and  knots  of 
pitch  pine  furnished  lights.  The  hymns  were  "  deaconed  out " 
by  the  line  at  the  meeting-house,  and  at  the  appearance  of  the 
first  bass-viol  in  the  gallery  (about  1790)  there  was  a  fierce 
rebellion  among  the  more  austere  of  the  worshipers.  There  was 
community  of  effort  in  all  important  enterprises,  and  no  man 
needed  aught  if  his  neighbor  could  supply  it. 

But  this  frontier  picture  is  not  wholly  stern  in  its  lines. 
Along  with  this  simplicity  of  life  and  severity  of  religious  doc 
trine  there  was  no  lack  of  frolic  and  rough  joking,  and  the  other 
rugged  characteristics  were  relieved  by  shrewd  wit  and  native 
humor.  The  annals  of  Bedford  are  entertaining  and  abound  in 
such  anecdotes  as  these  :  Deacon  John  Orr  (the  grandfather  of 
the  mother  of  Zachariah  Chandler  )  was  a  sturdy  Irish-Scotchman, 
whose  temper  under  extreme  provocation  once  got  the  better  of 
his  devoutness  and  led  him  into  a  vigorous  profanity  of  speech. 
This  glaring  dereliction  in  a  church  officer  called  for  reprimand, 
and  he  was  waited  upon  by  the  minister  and  a  delegation  of  his 
brethren  who  asked,  "  How  could  you  suffer  yourself  to  speak 
so  ? "  "  Why,  what  was  it  ? "  His  offending  language  was 
repeated  to  him.  "  And  what  o'  that ! "  said  he,  "  D'  ye  expect 
me  to  be  a'  spirit  and  nae  flesh  ? "  Late  in  life  Deacon  Orr 


BIRTHPLACE    AND    ANCESTRY.  27 

visited  Boston  with  a  load  of  produce  and  put  up  at  a  house  of 
entertainment  where,  after  he  had  drank  several  cups  of  tea,  and 
refused  a  final  invitation,  the  landlady  said  that  it  was  customary 
to  turn  the  cup  upside  down  to  show  that  no  more  was  wanted. 
He  apologized  and  promised  to  remember  the  injunction.  The 
next  morning  he  partook  of  a  huge  bowl  of  bread  and  milk  for 
breakfast,  and  not  wanting  the  whole  laid  down  his  spoon  and 
turned  the  dish  upside  down  with  its  contents  on  the  table.  The 
hostess  was  naturally  angry,  but  was  met  with  the  statement  that 
he  had  merely  followed  her  own  direction.  The  answer  of  a 
brother  deacon  to  one  of  the  congregation  who  complained,  "  I 
could  na  mak  yesterday's  preaching  come  together,"  was  a  com- 
pend  of  practical  Christianity :  "  Trouble  yourself  na'  about  that, 
"  man  —  a'  ye  have  to  do,  man,  is  to  fear  God  and  keep  His 
"  commandments."  It  is  also  told  that  the  objections  of  one  of 
the  staunch  Scotch  Presbyterians  of  Bedford  to  the  marriage  of 
his  daughter  with  an  urgent  suitor  of  Catholic  parentage  were 
overcome  by  the  apt  query,  "  If  a  man  happened  to  be  born  in 
a  stable  would  that  make  him  a  horse  ? "  And  to  one  of  the 
rural  theologians  of  the  town  is  credited  this  contribution  to 
ecclesiastical  distinctions :  "  The  difference  between  the  Presby- 
"teriaus  and  Congregationalists  is  this:  The  Congregationalist 
"goes  home  and  eats  a  regular  dinner  between  services,  but  the 
"Presbyterian  postpones  his  until  after  meeting."  After  a  most 
vigorous  quarrel  between  the  minister  and  one  of  the  flock  over 
a  boundary  line  dispute,  the  wrathful  member  of  the  congrega 
tion  was  prompt  at  service  on  Sunday  with  the  following 
explanation:  "I'd  have  ye  to  know,  if  I  did  quarrel  with  the 
minister,  I  did  not  quarrel  with  the  Gospel." 

That  this  was  a  community  of  uncompromising  patriotism 
follows  from  its  character.  In  the  French  and  Indian  war  the 
New  England  forces  were  at  one  time  under  command  of  Col. 
John  Goffe,  of  Bedford,  and  the  number  of  privates  enlisted  from 


28  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

that  town  was  large.  The  Xew  Hampshire  regiment  which  joined 
the  expedition  of  General  Amherst  against  Canada,  commanded 
by  Colonel  Goffe,  was  raised  largely  among  the  Scotch-Irish 
emigrants  of  Hillsborough  and  Ixockingham  comities,  and  had  in 
its  ranks  many  Bedford  men.  In  the  Revolutionary  War  a  large 
portion  of  its  able-bodied  citizens  were  in  the  first  American 
army  that  beleaguered  Boston  and  fought  at  Bunker  Hill;  nearly 
or  quite  half  of  all  who  could  handle  a  musket  were  with  Stark 
at  Benningtoii,  and  with  Gates  at  Saratoga.  General  Stark  lived 
but  a  few  rods  from  the  town  line  on  the  north,  and  one  of  his 
most  trusted  officers  was  Lieutenant,  afterwards  Colonel,  John 
Orr,  of  Bedford.  The  town  records  abound  with  votes  taken  to 
carry  out  the  measures  proposed  by  the  Continental  Congress, 
and  also  chronicle  one  case  of  semi-Toryism  and  its  punishment. 
In  1770  Congress  advised  the  disarming  of  all  who  were  dis 
affected  towards  the  American  cause,  and  the  selectmen  of  the 
Kew  Hampshire  towns  circulated  this  pledge  among  their  people : 

In  consequence  of  the  above  Resolution  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and 
to  show  our  determination  in  joining  our  American  brethren,  in  defending  the 
lives,  liberties,  and  properties  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  Colonies,  We, 
the  Subscribers,  do  hereby  solemnly  engage  and  promise,  that  we  will,  to  the 
utmost  of  our  power,  at  the  risk  of  our  lives  and  fortunes,  with  arms,  oppose 
the  hostile  proceedings  of  the  British  Fleets  and  Armies  against  the  United 
American  Colonies. 

Among  its  Bedford  signers  were  John  Orr,  Zachariah  Chand 
ler,  and  Samuel  Patten  (all  ancestors  of  Zachariah  Chandler,) 
and  the  report  made  from  that  town  was  this  : 

To  the  honorable,  the  Council  and  Plouse  of  Representatives,  for  the  Colony  of 
New  Hampshire,  to  be  convened  in  Exeter,  in  said  Colony,  on  Wednesday, 
5th  inst. 

Pursuant  to  the  within  precept,  we  have  taken  pains  to  know  the  minds 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Bedford,  with  respect  to  the  within  obliga 
tion,  and  find  none  unwilling  to  sign  the  same,  except  the  Rev.  John  Houston, 
who  declines  signing  the  said  obligation,  for  the  following  reasons  :  Firstly, 
Because  he  did  not  apprehend  that  the  honorable  Committee  meant  that  Min- 


BIRTHPLACE    AND    ANCESTRY.  21) 

isters  should  take  up  arms,  as  being  inconsistent  with  their  ministerial  charge, 
Secondly,  Because  he  was  already  confined  to  the  Comity  of  Hillsborough, 
therefore,  he  thinks  he  ought  to  be  set  at  liberty  before  he  should  sign  the  said 
obligation.  Thirdly,  Because  there  are  three  men  belonging  to  his  family 
already  enlisted  in  the  Continental  Army. 

Mr.  Houston,  who  was  thus  officially  reported  as  the  only 
Bedford  Tory,  had  occupied  the  town  pulpit  for  over  fifteen 
years,  and  was  a  man  of  scholarship  and  purity,  "but  he  had 
become  a  loyalist  in  sympathy  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolu 
tionary  troubles,  and  was  as  inflexible  in  conviction  as  his 
neighbors.  Originally  (in  1756)  the  town  had  voted  that  his 
salary  should  be  at  the  rate  of  forty  pounds  sterling  a  year  for 
such  Sundays  as  they  desired  his  services.  When  they  felt 
unable  to  pay  they  voted  him  one  or  more  Sundays  for  himself, 
and  then  deducted  from  his  salary  proportionately.  In  1775,  after 
prolonged  controversy  with  him,  his  case  was  brought  before 
town-meeting  (on  June  15th),  and  he  was  unanimously  dismissed 
by  the  adoption  of  a  vote  setting  off  for  his  own  use  all  the 
Sabbaths  remaining  in  the  calendar  year.  The  town  records 
contain  this  explanation  of  the  action : 

June  15,  1775.  Voted  —  Whereas,  we  find  that  the  Rev'd  Mr.  John  Hous 
ton,  after  a  great  deal  of  tenderness  and  pains  taken  with  him,  both  in  public 
and  private,  and  toward  him,  relating  to  his  speeches,  frequently  made  both 
in  public  and  private,  against  the  rights  and  privileges  of  America,  and  his 
vindicating  of  King  and  Parliament  in  their  present  proceedings  against  the 
Americans  ;  and  having  not  been  able  hitherto  to  bring  him  to  a  sense  of  his 
error,  and  he  has  thereby  rendered  himself  despised  by  people  in  general,  and 
by  us  in  particular,  and  that  he  has  endeavored  to  intimidate  us  against  main 
taining  the  just  rights  of  America  :  Therefore,  we  think  it  not  our  duty  as  men 
or  Christians,  to  have  him  preach  any  longer  with  us  as  our  minister. 

The  resolute  and  uncompromising  spirit,  which  thus  sternly 
resented  and  punished  unpatriotic  sympathies  in  one  whom  the 
people  had  been  accustomed  to  hold  in  reverence,  was  manifested 
on  all  occasions.  This  is  a  document  of  later  date,  signed  by  a 
Bedford  committee,  which  seems  not  to  have  been  suggested  by 


30  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

any  outside   action,  but   to   have   resulted   from   the  impulses   of 
the  citizens  themselves : 

Bedford,  May  31,  1783. 

To  Lieut.  John  Orr,  Representative  at  the  General  Court  of  the  State  of  New 
Hampshire  :  — 

Sir  :  —  Although  we  have  full  confidence  in  your  fidelity  and  public  virtue, 
and  conceive  that  you  would  at  all  times  pursue  such  measures  only  as  tend 
to  the  public  good,  yet  upon  the  particular  occasion  of  our  instructing  you, 
we  ( oncMve  that  it  will  be  an  advantage  to  have  your  sentiments  fortified  by 
those  of  your  constituents. 

The  occasion  is  this  ;  the  return  of  those  persons  to  this  country,  who  are 
known  in  Great  Britain  by  the  name  of  loyalist,  but  in  America,  by  those  of 
conspirators,  absentees,  and  tories  ; 

We  agree  that  yon  use  your  influence  that  these  persons  do  not  receive 
the  least  encouragement  to  return  to  dwell  among  us,  they  not  deserving  favor, 
as  they  left  us  in  ihe  righteous  cause  we  were  engaged  in,  fighting  for  our 
undoubted  rights  and  liberties,  and  as  many  of  them  acted  the  part  of  the 
most  inveterate  enemies. 

And  further, —  that  they  do  not  receive  any  favor  of  any  kind,  as  we  esteem 
them  as  persons  not  deserving  it,  but  the  Contrary. 

You  are  further  directed  to  use  your  influence,  that  those  who  are  already 
returned,  be  treated  according  to  their  deserts. 

In  the  War  of  1812  there  were  more  than  two  hundred  men 
in  Bedford  armed  and  in  readiness  to  march  whenever  called 
upon,  and  in  this  two  hundred  was  one  company  of  about  sixty 
men  over  forty  years  of  age  and  therefore  exempt  from  military 
duty.  In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  Bedford  invariably  filled  its 
quota  without  draft  and  without  high  bounties,  and  it  paid  its 
war  debt  promptly. 

It  was  in  this  community  of  stalwart,  clear-headed,  freedom- 
loving,  sturdily  honest,  and  uncompromisingly  sincere  men  and 
women,  that  Zachariah  Chandler  was  born  and  that  the  founda 
tions  of  his  character  were  durably  laid. 


CHAPTEE    11. 

PARENTAGE     AND     CHILDHOOD. 

TIE  Chandlers  of  New  England  are  the  descendants  of 
William  Chandler,  who  came  from  England  in  the  days 
of  the  Puritan  immigration  —  about  1637 — and  settled 
in  Roxbury,  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony.  The 
Chandlers  of  Bedford,  N".  II.,  are  the  posterity  of  one  of  his 
descendants,  Zechariah  Chandler  of  Roxbury,  WT!IO  was  among  the 
grantees  of  Souhegan-East  in  the  right  of  his  wife,  the  daughter 
of  a  soldier  in  King  Philip's  War.  They  were  the  conspicuous 
English  family  in  that  Scotch-Ii"sh  Presbyterian  •  settlement,  and 
their  farm  is  the  only  one  in  that  town  which  is  still  in  pos 
session  of  the  lineal  descendants  of  an  original  grantee.  That 
Zechariah  Chandler  was  a  man  of  some  means  is  shown  by  this 
document,  which  is  still  on  record  and  reads  curiously  enough  in 
the  biography  of  a  most  inveterate  and  powerful  opponent  of 
slavery  and  the  slave  power  : 

BOSTON,  November  11,  1740. 

Received  of  Mr.  Zechariah  Chandler,  one  hundred  and  ten  pounds,  in  full, 
for  a  Negro  Boy,  sold  and  delivered  him  for  my  master,  John  Jones. 

£110  WM.  MERCHANT,  Jun'r. 

This  slave  was  taken  to  Bedford,  but  soon  freed  by  his  owner, 
when  he  assumed  the  name  of  Primas  Chandler.  Although  past 
the  usual  military  age,  in  1775  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
service  of  the  colonies,  was  captured  by  the  British  at  "  The 
Cedars"  and  was  never  afterwards  heard  from  by  his  friends. 
He  left  a  wife  and  two  sons  in  Bedford,  but  his  family  has 
since  become  extinct. 


32  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

The  first  settlers  in  Bedford  located  chiefly  on  the  rocky 
and  hilly  territory  which  is  now  the  central  and  most  thickly 
inhabited  portion  of  the  town.  East  of  this,  in  the  smooth  and 
fertile  intervale  of  the  Merrimack,  judging  by  the  names  on  the 
most  ancient  maps,  the  settlers  were  chiefly  of  English  descent, 
and  among  them  was  Thomas  Chandler,  the  son  of  Zechariah, 
and  the  first  actual  occupant  of  the  land  granted  to  his  father. 
He  married  Hannah,  a  daughter  of  Col.  John  Goife,  by  whom 
he  had  four  children  —  three  daughters  and  a  son  named  also 
Zachariah,  who  married  Sarah  Patten,  the  second  daughter  of 
Capt.  Samuel  Patten.  This  Zachariah,  the  grandfather  of  his 
namesake,  the  Senator,  died  on  April  20,  1830,  at  the  age  of  TO, 
and  his  widow  died  in  184:2,  aged  nearly  04:.  From  them  were 
descended  the  two  families  of  Chandlers,  who  in  the  present 
generation  have  been  prominent  in  Bedford. 

The  oldest  son  of  Zachariah  was  named  Thomas,  and  was 
born  August  10,  17T2.  He  had  four  children  —  Asenath,  who 
married  Stephen  Kendrick,  of  Nashville ;  Sarah,  who  married 
Caleb  Kendrick ;  Hannah,  who  married  Rufus  Kcndrick,  a 
well-known  citizen  of  Boston ;  and  Adam,  who  now  lives  in 
Manchester,  where  also  reside  his  three  sons,  Henry  and  Byron, 
who  are  connected  with  the  Amoskeag  National  Bank,  and 
John,  who  is  a  prominent  merchant  of  that  city.  The  only 
daughter  of  Zachariah,  Sarah,  remained  single,  and  lived  at  the 
old  homestead,  which  had  become  her  property,  until  her  death 
in  1852.  Throughout  that  whole  region  she  was  known  for 
years  as  "  Aunt  Sarah." 

Samuel,  the  second  son  of  Zachariah,  was  born  May  28,  IT 74:, 
and  married  Margaret  Orr,  the  oldest  daughter  of  General  Stark's 
most  trusted  officer,  Col.  John  Orr.  They  had  seven  children, 
one  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Those  who  reached  maturity  were 
Mary  Jane,  who  was  successively  married  to  the  Rev.  C}7rus 
Downs,  the  Rev.  David  P.  Smith,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Lee,  and 


34  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

who  is  still  living,  the  last  surviving  member  of  the  seven,  at 
the  present  homestead ;  Annis,  who  married  Franklin  Moore  and 
became  a  resident  of  Detroit ;  Samuel,  Jr.,  who,  after  four  years 
at  Dartmouth  and  Union  colleges,  lost  his  health  and  died  in 
Detroit  in  1835;  Zachariah,  the  subject  of  this  memorial  volume; 
and  John  Orr,  who,  after  graduating  at  Dartmouth,  spent  one 
year  in  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  came  in  feeble  health  to 
Detroit  where  lie  was  tenderly  cared  for  by  his  brother,  and  finally 
went  by  way  of  New  Orleans  to  Cuba,  where  he  died  in  Janu 
ary,  1839,  his  remains  being  subsequently  removed  to  the  Bedford 
burying-ground.  The  father,  Samuel,  died  in  Bedford  on  Janu 
ary  11,  1870,  at  the  age  of  95,  and  the  mother  in  1855,  at  the 
age  of  81. 

The  Chandlers  during  the  three  generations  from  Thomas 
to  Samuel  were  thus  allied  by  marriage  to  three  of  the  most 
noted  families,  not  only  in  Bedford  but  in  New  Hampshire, 
the  Goffes,  Pattens  and  Orrs.  They  were  generally  long-lived, 
although  consumption  developed  in  different  generations,  and 
were  always  prominent  in  town  and  church  matters.  The 
Thomas  ('handler  who  first  settled  in  Bedford  was  one  of  the 
signers  of  the  petition  for  incorporation  in  1750,  and  was  con 
spicuously  connected  with  all  local  movements  at  that  time.  His 
grandson  Thomas,  the  Senator's  uncle,  was  in  the  Legislature 
several  terms,  and  in  Congress  from  1829  to  1833,  being  elected 
as  a  Jackson  Democrat.  His  name  is  frequently  mentioned  in 
the  records  of  the  church  where  he  was  choir-leader  and  where 
he  formed  a  class  for  instruction  in  sacred  music.  He  was  also 
selectman  for  many  years,  and  held  other  positions  in  connection 
with  the  town  government.  He  as  well  as  his  father  "  kept 
tavern  "  on  one  of  the  main  New  England  thoroughfares  of 
those  days,  and  both  were  widely  known  through  that  region. 
Samuel,  the  father  of  the  Senator,  played  the  first  bass-viol  ever 
used  in  the  church  choir,  and  helped  to  stem  the  tide  of  iiidig- 


PARENTAGE    AND    CHILDHOOD. 


35 


nation  with  which  the  introduction  of  this  "  ungodly "  instrument 
was  met  by  the  more  rigid  members  of  that  orthodox  Presby 
terian  body.  His  name  often  appears  in  the  records  as  clerk  of 
the  church,  selectman,  and  town  clerk.  He  was  for  over  twenty 
years  consecutively  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  in  his  hands  was 
usually  placed  such  business  as  the  settlement  of  estates.  In  the 
list  of  town  officers  the  name  of  Chandler  appears  almost  every 


THE    BIRTHPLACE    OF    ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

year,  and  in  almost  all  church  and  public  gatherings  for  over  a 
century  some  member  of  this  family  was  present  among  the 
active  and  public-spirited  citizens. 

The  first  house  built  on  the  Chandler  farm  was  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river  road,  and  not  far  from  the  present  homestead. 
It  Avas  torn  down  many  years  ago,  but  the  cellar  was  visible 


30  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

until  within  a  comparatively  recent  period.  The  second  house 
was  built  before  the  Revolutionary  War,  by  the  grandfather  of 
the  Senator,  and  this  is  still  standing,  though  it  has  been  remod 
eled  and  modernized.  It  was  used  as  a  tavern  and  court-house 
during  that  war.  In  this  the  second  Zachariah  and  his  wife  lived 
for  many  years,  and  in  this  they  and  their  daughter  Sarah  died. 
During  their  declining  years  they  were  cared  for  there  by  the 
mother  of  Rodney  M.  Rollins,  the  present  occupant  and  owner 
of  the  place,  and  the  house,  with  forty  acres  of  land,  was  willed 
to  Mrs.  Rollins  by  "  Aunt  Sarah "  previous  to  her  death.  This 
was  the  iirst  alienation  from  the  possession  of  the  family  of  any 
part  of  the  Chandler  farm.  Although  the  house  has  been 
remodeled,  it  retains  many  of  its  old  features,  and  one  apartment 
at  the  northwest  corner  has  been  preserved  nearly  as  it  was  at 
the  time  of  the  Revolution.  It  is  called  the  Revolutionary  room, 
and  has  still  in  its  furniture  some  of  the  chairs  that  were  there 
a  hundred  years  ago,  and  among  its  fixtures  an  ancient  buffet, 
carved  by  hand  and  unchanged  except  by  paint  since  1YY6. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  road,  fronting  the  east,  and  in 
sight  of  the  Merrimack,  where  it  takes  its  broad  sweep  above 
GofPs  Falls,  is  the  present  Chandler  homestead,  wThich  was  built 
by  Samuel  Chandler  in  1800,  before  his  marriage.  It  remains 
to-day  almost  precisely  as  first  constructed,  and  seems  good  for 
half  a  century  more.  Its  rooms  are  large,  and  the  ceilings 
unusually  high  for  a  farm-house  of  the  earlier  times.  The  front 
portion  contains  four  large  apartments  on  the  lower  floor, 
and  in  the  rear  are  the  dining-room,  the  kitchen,  the  pantry, 
and  store-rooms.  In  the  second  story  are  five  bed-rooms,  with 
closets  and  additional  store-room,  and  above  these  is  a  spacious 
attic.  Among  the  furniture  are  chairs  and  chests  of  drawers 
of  pre- revolutionary  times,  one  of  the  ancient  four -post  bed 
steads  common  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  brass  andirons  which 
would  delight  the  eyes  of  a  lover  of  antique  relics.  Here  still 


PARENTAGE    AND    CHILDHOOD.  37 

lives   the    Senator's   oldest   sister,    and   here   the   family  of   seven 
were  born. 

In  the  ancient  family  bible,  printed  in  1803  and  preserved  by 
Mrs.  Lee,  is  an  entry  of  a  birth,  of  which  this  is  a  fac-  simile: 


•^CuCsf^ 


10 


It  will  be  noticed  that  the  given  name  is  written  Zacharias. 
Mrs.  Lee  still  speaks  of  her  brother  as  Zacharias,  and  his  name 
is  also  so  printed  in  the  Chandler  geneaology  in  the  centennial 
history  of  Bedford.  The  Senator  in  his  signatures  simply  used 
the  initial  of  his  first  name,  but  he  ultimately  adopted  the 
ancestral  Zachariah,  and  that  was  the  name  which  he  made 
famous,  and  by  which  he  will  be  known  in  this  biography. 

Zachariah  Chandler's  father  and  paternal  grandfather,  Samuel 
and  Zachariah,  are  described  as  spare  men  of  medium  stature, 
but  energetic  and  full  of  endurance.  His  mother,  Margaret  Orr, 
was  tall  and  powerful  ;  her  distinguished  son  resembled  her  in 
face,  and  inherited  from  her  many  of  his  most  vigorous  traits. 
She  was  a  woman  of  great  strength  of  character  and  robust  sense, 
and  exercised  a  large  influence  over  her  children.  Her  family 
was  a  remarkable  one  ;  her  father  was  the  conspicuous  man  of 
his  day  in  his  part  of  JsTew  Hampshire  ;  her  brother,  Benjamin 
Orr,  became  the  foremost  lawyer  of  Maine  early  in  the  present 
century,  and  served  one  term  from  that  State  in  Congress  ;  her 
half-brother,  the  Rev.  Isaac  Orr,  was  a  man  of  many  accomplish 
ments  and  a  diverse  scholarship,  a  prolific  writer  on  scientific  and 
philosophical  topics,  and  with  a  claim  on  the  general  gratitude  as 
the  inventor  of  the  application  of  the  air-tight  principle  to  the 
common  stove. 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

The  boy  Zachariali  was  healthy,  strong,  quick-tempered,  and 
self-reliant,  and  the  contrast  was  marked  between  his  sturdiness 
and  the  constitutional  feebleness  of  his  short-lived  brothers.  The 
traditions  of  his  childhood,  still  fondly  cherished  by  his  surviving 
sister,  all  show  that  from  his  cradle  he  was  ready  to  fight  his 
own  battles,  and  that  his  "  pluckiness "  was  innate.  One  juvenile 
anecdote  related  by  Mrs.  Lee  will  illustrate  scores  that  might  be 
repeated :  His  father's  poultry-yard  was  ruled  by  a  large  and 
ill-tempered  gander,  the  strokes  of  whose  horny  beak  were  the 
dread  of  the  smaller  children.  The  oldest  brother  was  one  day 
driven  back  by  this  fowl  while  attempting  to  cross  the  road, 
when  the  young  "  Zach.,"  then  three  years  old,  called  out  "  Do, 
Sammy,  do,  I'll  keep  e'  dander  off,"  and  rushed  into  a  pitched 
and  victorious  battle  with  the  "dander,"  during  which  his  brother 
made  good  his  escape. 

His  rudimentary  education  was  obtained  in  the  little  brick 
school-house  at  Bedford,  which  remains  substantially  unchanged 
and  is  still  used.  Here  he  attended  school  regularly  from  the 
age  of  five  or  six  until  he  was  fourteen  or  fifteen.  He  had  an 
excellent  memory,  and  was  a  good  scholar,  standing  well  with 
others  of  his  age.  He  was  a  leader  in  the  boys'  sports,  always 
active,  and  entering  with  zest  into  every  frolic.  Of  these 
days,  one  of  his  early  playmates  —  now  the  Iv-ev.  S.  G.  Abbott, 
of  Stamford,  Conn. — thus  writes:  "The  death  of  Mr.  Chandler 
"  revives  the  memories  of  half  a  century  ago.  The  old  brick 
"school-house  where  we  were  taught  together  the  rudiments  of 
"  our  education ;  the  country  store  where  his  father  sold  such  a 
"wonderful  variety  of  merchandise  for  the  wants  of  the  inner 
"  and  outer  man ;  the  broad  acres  of  field  and  forest  in  the 
"  ancestral  domain  where  we  used  to  rove  and  hunt ;  his  uncle's 
"'tavern,'  the  cheerful  home  of  the  traveler  when  there  were  no 
"  railroads,  situated  on  a  great  thoroughfare,  constantly  alive  with 
"stages,  teams,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  turkeys,  and  pedestrian 


±0  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

"immigrants  —  all  these  form  a  picture  as  distinct  to  the  mind's 
"eye  as  if  a  scene  of  the  present.  ]S"o  unimportant  feature  of 
"that  picture  in  my  boyish  memory  was  a  rough-built,  over- 
"  grown,  awkward,  good-natured,  popular  boy,  who  went  by  the 
"never-forgotten,  familiar  sobriquet  of  'Zach.'  lie  never  forgot 
"it.  After  more  than  forty  years'  separation,  when  I  called  on 
"him  in  the  capitol,  and  apologized  for  calling  him  Zach,  in 
"  his  old,  rollicking  way  he  said  '  Oh,  you  can  call  me  old  Zach, 
"that's  what  they  all  call  me  out  West,'" 

In  his  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  years  he  attended  the  acade 
mies  at  Pembroke  and  Deny,  with  his  older  brother,  who  was 
fitting  for  college.  In  the  winter  following  he  taught  school 
one  term  in  the  Piscataquog  or  "  Squog "  district.  As  is  the 
rule  in  country  schools,  many  of  the  pupils  were  about  as  large 
as  the  teacher,  and  the  "  Squog "  boys  had  the  reputation  of 
being  especially  unruly.  The  usual  disorders  commenced,  but 
after  some  trouble  the  energetic  young  man  from  the  Chandler 
farm  established  his  supremacy,  and  the  scholars  recognized  the 
fact  that  there  was  a  head  to  the  school.  Mr.  Chandler  always 
spoke  with  interest  of  his  brief  experience  in  teaching,  although 
he  never  claimed  any  particular  success  in  that  calling.  While 
he  was  thus  employed  the  teacher  of  the  brick  school,  in  which 
he  had  been  so  long  a  pupil,  was  a  Dartmouth  sophomore  who 
in  his  "  boarding  around "  was  especially  welcome  at  the  house 
of  Samuel  Chandler.  This  was  James  F.  Joy,  who  then  formed 
with  the  young  Zachariah  an  intimacy,  which  ranked  among  the 
causes  that  determined  Mr.  Joy's  own  selection  of  Detroit  as  a 
home,  and  lasted  through  life. 

In  the  latter  years  of  his  school  life  young  Chandler  worked 
on  the  farm  through  the  summer,  and  the  last  season  that  he 
was  home  he  took  entire  charge,  employing  the  help  and  super 
intending  the  labor.  Thomas  Kendall,  who  was  with  him  during 
three  summers,  and  who  is  still  living  in  Bedford,  says,  "Zach. 


PARENTAGE    AND    CHILDHOOD.  41 

was  a  good  man  to  work  and  a  good  man  to  work  for."  He 
was  just  in  his  dealings  with  the  men,  but  vigorous  as  an  over 
seer^  and  himself  as  good  a  "farm  hand"  as  there  was.  Stories 
are  still  told  of  his  achievements  in  mowing'  contests  with  the 
men.  He  had  no  liking,  as  had  many  of  his  fellows,  for  hunt 
ing  or  fishing,  but  he  was  fond  of  athletic  sports,  and  was  the 
best  wrestler  in  town.  "Whoever  took  hold  of  Zach.,"  says  Mr. 
Kendall,  "  had  to  go  down." 

During  one  of  the  last  years  of  his  residence  at  Bedford, 
Mr.  Chandler  was  enrolled  in  the  local  militia  company  and 
turned  out  at  the  "general  muster."  He  did  not,  however, 
succeed  in  bringing  himself  to  perfect  obedience  to  the  orders 
of  the  young  captain,  whom  he  knew  he  could  easily  out-wrestle 
and  out-mow,  and  was  arrested  for  insubordination.  He  was  kept 
under  arrest  through  one  afternoon,  but  the  court-martial  which 
had  been  ordered  for  his  trial  was  recalled  and  he  was  released. 
He  was  afterwards  for  a  short  time  on  the  staff  of  the  command 
ing  officer,  General  Riddle,  but  his  removal  from  New  Hampshire 
took  place  at  about  this  time.  After  his  Janesville,  Wis.,  speech, 
two  days  before  his  death,  Mr.  Chandler  was  called  upon  by  the 
Captain  Colley  who  had  placed  him  under  arrest  nearly  fifty 
years  before.  Mr.  Colley  is  now  a  resident  of  Rock  county, 
Wis.,  and  had  driven  a  long  distance  to  listen  to  his  old-time 
subordinate,  or  rather  insubordinate,  and  to  revive  with  him  old 
memories. 

In  the  year  1833  Zachariah  Chandler  entered  the  store  of 
Kendrick  &  Foster  of  Nashua,  and  in  September  of  that  year, 
moved  by  the  same  impulse  that  has  sent  so  many  New  Eug- 
landers  into  the  growing  territories,  turned  his  face  Westward, 
and  in  company  with  his  brother-in-law,  the  late  Franklin  Moore, 
came  to  the  city,  which  from  that  time  to  his  death  was  his 
home.  He  had  not  then  shown  in  any  marked  degree  the 
qualities  which  made  his  future  success  so  eminent,  and  was 


±2  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

apparently  simply  a  good  specimen  out  of  thousands  of  the  ener 
getic,  determined,  and  sagacious  young  men,  who,  leaving  more 
sterile  NQW  England,  have  subdued  the  forests,  moulded  the 
politics  and  conducted  the  business  of  half  a  dozen  Western 
States. 

For  the  old  homestead  and  its  occupants,  and  for  the  town 
of  Bedford,  Mr.  Chandler  always  entertained  a  warm  affection. 
He  was  a  good  correspondent,  and  his  home  letters,  which  until 
his  entrance  into  public  life  were  frequent  and  long,  breathed  a 
genuine  feeling  of  lilial  and  brotherly  affection.  After  his  elec 
tion  to  the  Senate,  with  the  voluminous  correspondence  which 
his  official  position  involved,  his  letters  to.  the  old  home  became 
less  frequent,  but  to  the  last  he  kept  up  occasional  communication 
with  the  surviving  friends  at  his  birthplace.  During  his  father's 
life  he  visited  Bedford  twice  or  more  each  year,  and  after  his 
father's  death  made  at  least  one  annual  journey  there.  In  1850, 
when  the  centennial  celebration  of  the  incorporation  of  the  town 
ship  occurred,  Mr.  Chandler  was  among  those  invited  to  be 
present,  and  sent  the  following  letter  of  regret  • 

DETROIT,  May  16,  1850. 

GENTLEMEN  :  —  I  regret  exceedingly  my  inability  to  accept  your  kind 
invitation  to  be  present  at  your  Centennial  Celebration  of  the  settlement  of 
the  good  old  town  of  Bedford.  It  would  have  afforded  me  great  pleasure  to 
meet  my  old  friends  upon  that  occasion,  but  circumstances  beyond  my  own 
control  will  prevent.  The  ashes  of  the  dead,  as  well  as  the  loved  faces  of  the 
living,  attract  me  strongly  to  my  native  town,  and  that  attachment  I  find 
increasing  each  day  of  my  life.  Permit  me,  in  conclusion,  to  offer:  "The 
town  of  Bedford — May  her  descendants  (widely  scattered  through  the  land) 
never  dishonor  their  paternity." 

Be  pleased  to  accept,  for  yourselves  and  associates,  my  kind  regards,  and 

believe  me,  Truly  yours, 

Z.  CHANDLER. 

His  later  visits  were  looked  forward  to  with  much  interest, 
not  only  by  his  relatives,  but  by  the  neighbors,  to  whom  a  talk 
with  him  was  one  of  the  events  of  the  year.  He  was  there 


PARENTAGE    AND    CHILDHOOD.  43 

always  genial  and  friendly,  kept  up  his  acquaintance  with  the 
old  residents,  and  thoroughly  enjoyed  his  association  with  them. 
His  last  visit  to  the  homestead  was  after  the  close  of  his  campaign 
in  Maine,  in  August,  1879.  He  then  met  many  of  his  boyhood 
friends,  and  enjoyed  a  ramble  over  the  undulating  fields  which 
stretch  from  the  central  hills  toward  the  banks  of  the  Merri- 
mack.  And  as  he  drove  for  the  last  time  down  the  road  from 
the  house  of  his  birth  toward  Manchester,  he  pointed  to  a  pine 
grove  which  skirts  the  northern  border  of  the  Chandler  farm, 
and  said  to  his  companion,  "  That,  to  me,  is  the  most  beautiful 
grove  in  the  world." 

New  Hampshire  has  been  prolific  in  strong  men  with  the 
granite  of  its  hills  in  the  fibres  of  their  characters.  Bedford 
itself  has  been  the  birthplace  of  scores  of  the  leading  men  of 
the  thriving  city  of  Manchester ;  of  Joseph  E.  Worcester,  the 
lexicographer;  of  Benjamin  Orr,  of  Maine;  of  David  Aiken, 
Isaac  O.  Barnes,  and  Jacob  Bell,  of  the  Massachusetts  bar ;  of  the 
Hon.  David  Atwood,  of  Wisconsin ;  of  Judge  A.  S.  Thurston, 
of  Elmira,  K  Y. ;  of  Hugh  Kiddle,  of  the  Bock  Island  Bail- 
road,  arid  Geri.  G-eorge  Stark,  of  the  Northern  Pacific ;  of  the 
Bev.  Silas  Aiken,  of  the  Boston  pulpit ;  and  of  others  of  large 
influence  in  their  generations.  But  upon  no  one  of  its  sons  was 
the  impress  of  its  peculiar  history  so  indelibly  stamped  as  upon 
the  young  man  who  left  it  to  aid  in  founding  a  powerful  State 
amid  the  Great  Lakes,  and  who  became  the  foremost  representa 
tive  of  that  State's  vigorous  political  conviction  and  purpose. 


CHAPTER    III. 


REMOVAL     TO     MICHIGAN MERCANTILE     SUCCESS BUSINESS 

INVESTMENTS. 


1833  Zachariah  Chandler,  then  still  a  minor,  joined  the 
current  of  Western  emigration  from  Xew  York  and  Xew 
England  which  had  sprung  up  with  the  completion  of 
the  Erie  canal,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  entered  into 
the  retail  dry -goods  business  at  Detroit.  Franklin  Moore  (the 
husband  of  his  sister  Annis),  who  had  already  visited  Michigan, 
came  with  him  as  a  partner  in  the  enterprise,  and  the  original 
firm  name  was  Moore  &  Chandler.  At  the  outset  the  young 
merchant  had  some  assistance  from  his  father,  who,  the  tradition 
is,  offered  him  $1,000  in  cash  or  the  collegiate  education  which 
his  brothers  received,  the  money  being  chosen.  Samuel  Chandler 
also  subsequently  bought  a  store  for  his  son's  use,  but  it  is 
understood  that  all  such  advances  were  speedily  and  fully  repaid. 
The  building  in  which  the  future  Senator  first  laid  the  founda 
tion  of  his  ample  fortune  was  located  where  the  Biddle  House 
now  stands;  it  adjoined  the  mansion  of  Governor  Hull,  and  was 
subsequently  transformed  into  the  American  House.  Upon  its 
shelves  Moore  &  Chandler  displayed  a  small  general  stock,  repre 
senting  the  ample  assortment  usual  in  frontier  stores,  and  saw  a 
promising  business  answer  their  invitations.  In  the  following 
spring  they  removed  to  a  brick  store  (on  the  site  now  occupied 
by  S.  P.  Wilcox  &  Co.),  near  the  main  corner  of  the  town 
(where  Woodward  and  Jefferson  avenues  meet).  In  the  summer 
of  1834  Detroit  was  visited  by  the  Asiatic  cholera,  which 
appeared  in  malignant  form,  and  was  attended  by  an  appalling 


MERCANTILE    SUCCESS.  45 

death  rate,  and  an  ahnost  entire  suspension  of  general  traffic. 
Mr.  Chandler  did  not  yield  to  the  prevalent  panic,  but  remained 
at  his  business  and  was  indefatigable  in  his  efforts  to  relieve  the 
universal  distress.  His  vigorous  constitution  and  plain  habits 
guarded  his  own  health,  and  he  cared  for  the  sick  and  buried 
the  dead  without  faltering  amid  the  dreadful  scenes  of  the  pesti 
lence.  For  weeks  he  and  a  clerk  (Mr.  William  !N".  Carpenter, 
of  Detroit)  alternated  in  watching  by  sick  beds,  and,  with  others 
of  like  strength  and  courage,  brightened  with  unassuming  hero 
ism  the  gloomy  picture  of  a  season  of  dreadful  mortality. 

On  August  16,  1836,  the  firm  of  Moore  &  Chandler  was 
dissolved,  and  the  junior  partner  retained  the  established  busi 
ness,  and  continued  its  vigorous  prosecution.  Those  who  knew 
him  then  describe  a  fair  -  haired,  awkward,  tall,  gaunt  and  wiry 
youth,  blunt  in  his  ways,  simple  in  habits,  diffident  with  others, 
but  shrewd,  tireless  in  labor,  and  of  unlimited  energy.  He 
worked  day  and  night,  slept  in  the  store,  often  on  the  counter 
or  a  bale  of  goods,  acted  as  proprietor,  salesman,  or  porter  as 
was  needed,  lived  on  $300  a  year,  avoided  society,  and  allowed 
only  the  Presbyterian  church  to  divide  his  attention  with  busi 
ness.  He  kept  a  good  stock,  especially  strong  in  the  staples, 
bought  prudently,  and  there  was  no  better  salesman  in  the  West. 
His  trade  became  especially  large  with  the  farmers  who  used 
Detroit  as  a  market,  and  the  unaffected  manners  and  homely 
good  sense  of  the  rising  merchant  soon  gave  him  a  popularity 
with  his  rural  customers  that  foreshadowed  the  strong  hold  of 
his  later  life  on  the  affectionate  confidence  of  the  yeomanry  of 
the  State. 

The  training  which  this  intense  application  added  to  native 
vigor  of  judgment  early  made  him  a  thorough  business  man, 
exact  in  dealings,  strong  in  an  intuitive  knowledge  of  men, 
sound  in  his  judgment  of  values,  prudent  in  ventures,  and  of  an 
unflagging  energy  which  pushed  his  trade  wherever  an  opening 


46  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

could  be  found.  As  interior  Michigan  developed  lie  added  job 
bing  to  liis  retail  department,  and  became  known  as  a  close  and 
prudent  buyer,  a  shrewd  judge  of  credits,  and  a  most  successful 
collector.  A  business  established  at  the  commencement  of  an 
era  of  marvelous  growth,  pushed  with  such  industry,  drawn  upon 
only  for  the  meagre  expenses  of  a  young  man  living  with  the 
closest  economy,  and  unembarrassed  by  speculation,  meant  a 
fortune,  and  at  twenty-seven  years  of  age  Mr.  Chandler  found 
himself  with  success  assured  and  wealth  only  a  matter  of  patience. 
His  nearest  approach  to  financial  disaster  was  in  the  ruinous 
crash  which  swept  "  the  wild-cat  banks  "  ajnd  so  many  mercan 
tile  enterprises  out  of  existence  in  Michigan  in  the  year  1838. 
Like  others  he  .found  it  almost  impossible  at  that  time  to  obtain 
money,  and  the  Bank  of  Michigan  which  had  promised  him 
accommodations  was  compelled  by  its  own  straitened  condition 
to  decline  his  paper.  Thus  it  happened  that  a  note  for  about 
$5,000  given  to  Arthur  Tappan  ct  Co.  of  New  York  fell  due 
and  went  to  protest.  Mr.  Chandler,  accustomed  to  Xew  England 
strictness  in  business  and  exceedingly  sensitive  on  the  point  of 
meeting  all  engagements,  was  inclined  to  treat  the  protest  as 
bankruptcy  itself,  and  called  upon  his  Bedford  friend,  James  F. 
Joy,  then  a  young  lawyer  in  Detroit  and  for  years  afterwards 
Mr.  Chandler's  counsel,  to  have  a  formal  assignment  drawn  up. 
What  followed  is  given  in  Mr.  Joy's  language  :  "  I  looked  care- 
"  fully  into  his  affairs,  and  found  them  in  what  I  believed  to  be 
"  a  sound  and  healthy  condition.  I  then  said  :  '  I  won't  draw 
"  an  assignment  for  you,  Chandler ;  there  is  no  need  of  it.' 
u  l  What  shall  I  do  ? '  was  his  answer,  ( I  can't  pay  that  note.' 
"  My  reply  was,  c  Write  to  Tappan  &  Co.  and  say  that  you 
"  cannot  get  the  discounts  that  have  been  promised,  but  that  if 
"  they  will  renew  the  note  you  will  be  able  to  pay  it  when  it 
"  next  falls  due.'  He  took  my  advice  and  went  through,  and 
u  never  had  any  trouble  with  his  finances  after  that.  I  reminded 


MERCANTILE    SUCCESS.  47 

"  Mr.  Chandler  of  that  occurrence  about  two  months  before  his 
"  death,  when  he  said  he  remembered  it  perfectly,  and  added 
"  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  that  advice  he  might  have  been  a 
"  clerk  on  a  salary  to  this  day." 

Mr.  Chandler's  was  the  first  business  in  Detroit  whose  sales 
aggregated  $50,000  in  a  single  year,  and  the  reaching  of  that 
limit  was  hailed  by  the  community  as  a  great  mercantile  triumph. 
He  showed  increasing  commercial  sagacity  at  every  stage  of  his 
active  business  life.  He  pushed  his  jobbing  trade  in  all  directions 
and  made  his  interior  customers  his  personal  friends.  He  invested 
his  surplus  profits  in  productive  real  estate  which  grew  rapidly 
in  value.  He  was  never  tempted  into  speculation,  and  lie  was 
very  reluctant  to  incur  debt.  As  a  result,  ten  years  after  he 
landed  at  Detroit  he  had  a  reputation  throughout  the  new 
Northwest  as  a  merchant  of  ample  means,  personal  honesty, 
large  connections,  and  remarkable  enterprise. 

Between  1840  and  1850  Mr.  Chandler  reduced  his  business 
to  a  purely  wholesale  basis  and  made  himself  independently  and 
permanently  rich.  He  had  opportunities  and  they  were  improved 
to  the  full.  [And  it  may  be  here  said  without  exaggeration  that 
every  dollar  of  the  fortune  with  which  he  closed  his  career  as  an 
active  merchant  represented  legitimate  business  enterprise ;  it  was 
the  product  of  personal  industry  and  good  judgment  put  forth 
in  a  field  wisely  selected  and  with  only  slight  aid  at  the  outset.] 
The  wiry  stripling  had  become  a  stalwart  man,  despite  a  family 
consumptive  tendency  which  at  times  caused  alarm.  Prosperity 
did  not  affect  the  plainness  of  his  manners  and  speech,  nor  the 
simplicity  of  his  character,  and  maturity  added  method  to,  with 
out  impairing,  his  powers  of  personal  application.  He  was  a  man 
alive  with  energy  and  thoroughly  in  earnest.  He  was  active  and 
influential  in  all  public  matters  in  Detroit.  Every  year  he  drove 
through  the  State,  visited  its  cross-roads  and  its  clearings,  saw  its 
pioneer  merchants  at  their  homes  and  in  their  stores,  made  up 


48  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

his  estimate  of  men  and  their  means,  studied  the  growth  of  the 
State,  and  marked  the  course  of  the  budding  of  its  resources.  He 
thus  kept  himself  thoroughly  informed  as  to  the  material  develop 
ment  of  Michigan,  and  acquired  that  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
State  and  its  representative  men  which  formed  such  an  important 
part  of  his  equipment  for  public  life.  His  companion  in  these 
numerous  commercial  journeys  was  the  man  who  succeeded  him 
in  the  Senate,  the  Hon.  Henry  P.  Baldwin  of  Detroit,  who  came 
to  Michigan  largely  through  his  solicitations,  was  engaged  in 
business  for  years  by  his  side,  and  remained  his  intimate  associ 
ate  through  life.  This  part  of  Mr.  Chandler's  career  abounded 
in  the  making  of  friendships  which  endured  until  death.  While 
strict  in  all  his  dealings,  he  was  considerate  and  his  sympathy 
was  quick  with  struggling  industry  and  honesty.  He  aided  when 
they  needed  it  many  who  afterwards  rose  to  position  and  wealth, 
and  these  men  became  the  most  firmly  attached  of  his  supporters 
in  his  public  career. 

Shortly  after  1850  political  affairs  commenced  to  receive  Mr. 
Chandler's  attention,  and  he  gradually  entrusted  more  and  more 
of  the  actual  management  of  his  large  business  to  others,  though 
he  still  for  some  years  directed  in  a  general  way  the  operations 
of  the  house.  He  had  been  already  absent  one  winter  on  a  trip 
to  the  West  Indies  for  his  health,  and  had  made  a  brief  and  not 
wholly  satisfactory  experiment  (about  1846)  at  establishing  a  job 
bing  fancy -goods  trade  in  New  York.  With  these  exceptions 
he  had  made  his  Detroit  dry- goods  business  his  personal  charge. 
The  firm  name  had  generally  been  Z.  Chandler  &  Co.,  although 
it  was  for  some  time  Chandler  &  Bradford,  and  some  of  his 
relatives  had  been  and  were  associated  with  him  in  business. 
From  his  second  location  he  had  moved  his  stock  to  more  com 
modious  quarters  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Chandler 
Block,  and  in  1852  he  again  moved  to  the  stores  built  jointly 
by  himself  and  Mr.  Baldwin  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Wood- 


MERCANTILE    SUCCESS. 


ward  avenue  and  Woodbridge  street.  In  1855,  as  outside  matters 
commenced  to  press  constantly  upon  Mr.  Chandler's  attention, 
there  came  into  his  employment  as  a  clerk  a  young  man  of 
twenty-three  from  Kinderhook.  N.  Y.,  Allan  Shelden.  He  showed 


THE     CHANDLER     BLOCK. 

an  aptitude  for  business  and  a  capacity  for  work  that  recalled  to 
the  head  of  the  house  his  own  earlier  days,  and  Mr.  Shelden's 
rise  in  his  employer's  confidence  was  rapid  and  permanent.  On 
Feb.  1,  1857,  just  before  Mr.  Chandler  took  his  seat  as  the  suc- 
4 


50  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

cessor  of  Lewis  Cass  in  the  Senate,  the  firm  name  was  changed 
to  Orr,  Town  &  Smith,  with  Mr.  Chandler  as  a  special  partner, 
with  an  interest  of  $50,000.  In  the  fall  of  that  year,  it  became 
Town,  Smith  &  Shelden  ;  in  the  fall  of  1859  it  was  changed  to 
Town  &  Shelden  ;  on  Feb.  1,  1866,  it  was  again  changed  to  the 
present  name  of  Allan  Shelden  &  Co.  Three  years  later  Mr. 
Chandler  ceased  to  be  a  special  partner,  and  thus  finally  sundered 
his  formal  connection  with  the  business  he  had  established.  The 
mercantile  pre-eminence  in  Michigan  of  his  house  in  its  line  of 
trade  has  been  maintained  by  his  successors,  and  it  now  occupies 
the  magnificent  Chandler  Block,  built  for  its  accommodation  by 
its  founder  in  1878  on  Jefferson  avenue  in  Detroit.  Mr.  Shelden 
himself  continued  in  confidential  relations  with  his  predecessor, 
and  was  entrusted  in  later  years  with  the  management  of  a  large 
share  of  his  private  affairs. 

During  his  active  business  life  no  Northwestern  merchant 
surpassed  Mr.  Chandler  in  credit,  in  enterprise,  or  in  success, 
and  he  left  the  counter  and  office  of  his  store  with  wealth  and 
with  an  unsullied  mercantile  character.  His  commercial  integrity 
and  sagacity  always  remained  among  his  marked  characteristics. 
He  made  profitable  investments,  became  interested  in  remunera 
tive  enterprises,  and,  while  he  lived  generously  after  his  income 
warranted  it,  saw  his  riches  steadily  increase  under  prudent  and 
shrewd  management.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  his  estate  which 
Avas  absolutely  unincumbered  was  roughly  estimated  as  exceeding, 
at  the  least,  two  millions,  representing  valuable  business  prop 
erty  in  Detroit,  several  farms,  large  tracts  of  timbered  lands,  the 
marsh  farm  at  Lansing,  residences  in  Washington  and  Detroit, 
bank  stock,  government  and  other  securities,  and  investments  in 
railroad  and  like  enterprises.  His  business  habits  remained  in 
full  vigor  to  the  last.  He  was  punctuality  itself  in  all  appoint 
ments  ;  he  was  rigid  in  his  adherence  to  his  engagements ;  he 
hated  debt,  arid  never  permitted  the  second  presentation  of  an 


MERCANTILE    SUCCESS.  51 

account;  he  did  business  on  business  principles  and  with  business 
exactitude ;  he  spent  money  freely  but  knew  where  and  for  what 
it  wrent;  and  always  his  counsel  was  sought  and  prized  by  men 
engaged  in  enterprises  of  the  largest  magnitude.  Without  being 
ostentatious  or  profuse  in  his  charities  he  was  a  large  giver, 
rarely  refusing  a  meritorious  application  for  aid,  but  he  in 
variably  satisfied  himself  that  the  object  was  worthy,  and  put  a 
heartiness  into  his  "  no "  when  a  refusal  seemed  to  him  to  be 
in  order. 

His  business  instincts  he  never  relaxed  except  for  well-con 
sidered  reasons.  The  ditching  of  the  marsh  farm  he  regarded  as 
an  experiment  of  far-reaching  public  importance,  and  lie  paid 
its  cost  cheerfully  for  the  sake  of  settling  the  question  of  the 
possibility  of  reclaiming  such  lands.  Some  of  his  "  imprudences " 
of  this  deliberate  and  well-weighed  sort  proved  profitable.  During 
the  war  and  when  the  credit  of  the  United  States  was  at  an 
alarmingly  low  ebb  as  shown  in  the  ruling  prices  of  its  bonds, 
he  visited  the  city  of  Kew  York  in  company  with  Representa 
tive  Rowland  E.  Trowbridge,  of  his  State.  On  the  wray  there  he 
spoke,  in  private,  in  a  tone  of  unusual  depression  of  the  financial 
difficulties  of  the  government,  and  lamented  the  absence  of  any 
available  remedy.  The  next  day  there  was  a  decided  improve 
ment  in  the  rates  for  "governments"  on  Wall  street,  and  the 
firmer  feeling  it  created  never  wholly  disappeared  but  was 
followed  by  a  gradual  appreciation  in  this  class  of  securities. 
Mr.  Trowbridge  called  his  attention  to  the  advance  on  the  day 
following,  and  the  Senator  answered,  "I  know  all  about  it. 
"  I  gave  my  broker  orders  to  buy  heavily  and  the  street,  finding 
"that  out,  said  i Chandler  is  just  over  from  Washington  and 
"  knows  something,'  and  so  they  followed  my  lead,  and  there 
"  was  a  rush  which  sent  the  market  up."  Years  afterwards,  Mr. 
Chandler  was  reminded  by  Mr.  Trowbridge  of  the  permanent 
character  of  the  improvement  in  the  government's  credit  which 


52  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

attended  his  speculation  and  of  his  own  profit  in  the  matter. 
He  replied  that  while  he  had  sold  many  of  his  bonds  bought 
during  the  war,  he  still  held  those  which  came  into  his  possession 
at  that  time,  cherishing  them  for  their  associations  with  an 
investment  which  he  made  at  some  risk  to  help  the  treasury  in 
its  difficulties  and  which  had  proved  very  remunerative. 

During  his  public  life  information  legitimately  acquired  and 
the  broadening  of  his  judgment  by  contact  with  men  undoubt 
edly  helped  his  investments,  and  thus  added  to  his  wealth,  but 
individual  pecuniary  advantage  he  resolutely  ignored  in  shaping 
his  public  career.  And  his  sturdy  incorruptibility  as  a  legislator 
was  proverbial  at  the  capital.  An  illustration  of  this  fact  was 
shown  in  his  strenuous  resistance  to  and  emphatic  denunciation 
of  the  bills  to  remonetize  and  coin  without  limit  the  old  silver 
dollar.  While  these  measures  were  pending  he  had  considerable 
investments  in  silver  mining  stocks,  which  would  have  been 
greatly  increased  in  value  by  the  proposed  policy,  but,  showing 
one  day  to  a  friend  a  large  draft  representing  a  silver -mine 
dividend,  he  said,  "  I  ought  for  personal  reasons  to  favor  these 
"bills,  but  I  can't  consent  to  make  money  at  the  expense  of  the 
"  people."  Another  incident  exemplifies  this  phase  of  his  char 
acter  :  In  February,  18Y3,  the  city  of  Manistee,  on  the  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan,  sent  Gen.  B.  M.  Cutcheon  to  Washington  to 
secure  an  increased  appropriation  for  the  improvement  of  its 
harbor.  Senator  Chandler,  as  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Commerce  and  with  a  reputation  for  vigilance  in  caring  for 
Michigan  interests,  was  naturally  relied  upon  for  valuable  assist 
ance.  He  received  General  Cutcheon  cordially,  gave  his  personal 
attention  to  the  matter  of  introducing  the  representative  of 
Manistee  to  influential  Congressmen  and  to  department  officials, 
and  then  made  an  appointment  for  the  consideration  of  what  his 
own  share  in  the  work  should  be.  At  that  private  meeting  he 
expressed  to  General  Cutcheon  his  cordial  sympathy  with  his 


MERCANTILE    SUCCESS.  53 

errand,  but  added,  "  My  hands  are  tied  ;  the  fact  is  that  I  am 
"  interested  in  large  tracts  of  pine  on  the  Manistee  river,  and,  if 
"  I  should  take  charge  of  your  appropriation,  it  would  be  said, 
"  l  Chandler  is  feathering  his  own  nest ; '  and  if  I  am  going  to 
"  retain  my  influence  for  good  here,  I  must  keep  clear  of  even 
"  the  suspicion  of  a  job." 

The  great  multitude  who  knew  Mr.  Chandler  as  a  public  man 
knew  nothing  of  this  early  chapter  of  business  life.  It  wholly 
ante -dated  his  appearance  at  Washington,  and  the  channels  in 
which  his  strong  energies  made  themselves  felt  there  and  in  his 
younger  days  were  widely  distinct.  But  it  is  a  fact  that  he  was 
a  remarkable  man  of  business  and  as  thorough  a  merchant  as 
ever  developed  in  the  West  a  great  trade  from  small  beginnings. 
His  was  a  doubly  successful  career.  Before  he  had  reached 
middle  age  he  had  won  success  in  business  and  a  fortune. .  Then 
he  entered  public  life  and  made  himself  a  leader  of  men  in  a 
historic  era. 


CHAPTER  IY. 

THE  PANORAMA  OF  NORTHWESTERN  DEVELOPMENT. 

HE  forty -six  years  of  Zachariali  Chandler's  life  in 
Michigan  saw  a  vast  material  empire  supplant  an  almost 
unbroken  wilderness.  His  commercial  enterprise  and 
success  and  his  labors  as  a  legislator  were  among  the 
influential  agents  in  this  marvelous  development  and  give  its 
story  a  title  to  a  place  in  his  biography. 

As  early  as  1634  Jesuits  Brebuef,  Daniel  and  Davost, 
following  a  route  explored  by  Samuel  Champlain  eighteen  years 
before,  passed  up  the  River  Ottawa,  across  Lake  Nipissing,  down 
French  river  and  along  the  lonely  shores  of  the  great  Georgian 
bay  to  the  dark  forests  bordering  Lake  Huron.  Brebuef 
reached  there  first ;  Daniel  came  later,  weary  and  worn ;  Davost 
came  last  of  all,  half  dead  writh  famine  and  fatigue.*  Champlain 
had  been  before  them,  and  other  explorers  preceded  Champlain, 
but  these  three  were  the  first  Europeans  who  made  a  habitation 
by  the  shores  of  the  great  lakes  which  roll  their  tireless  flood 
down  through  the  gateway  of  Detroit.  They  erected  a  hut,  and 
daily  rang  a  bell  to  call  the  surrounding  savages  to  prayers. 
Behind  them  was  the  tangled  forest  they  had  penetrated;  at  their 
feet  were  the  broad  waters  of  Lake  Huron  ;  beyond  —  toward 
the  setting  sun — was  an  abyss  so  soundless  that  no  echo  had 
ever  come  from  it.  And  these  three  soldiers  of  the  cross,  con 
verters  of  the  heathen,  unarmed  and  alone  amid  a  multitude  of 
savages,  were  the  advance  ripples  of  the  mighty  wrave  that  two 


*Parkman's   "Jesuits  in  North  America.1 


NORTHWESTERN    DEVELOPMENT.  55 

centuries  later  was  to  break  across  the  lake  at  their  feet  and 
the  rivers  below  them  and  surge  over  the  trackless  wilderness 
beyond. 

Seven  years  later  (September,  16ttl,)  Charles  Raymbault  and 
Isaac  Jaques  embarked  in  a  frail  birch -bark  canoe,  paddling 
northwest  from  Georgian  bay  among  the  countless  islands  of 
the  St.  Marie  river,  amid  scenery  that  filled  them  with  delight. 
After  seventeen  days  the  Sault  de  St.  Marie  burst  upon  their 
enraptured  vision.  There  they  were  welcomed  "  as  brothers "  by 
the  Chippewas  and  there  began  the  first  known  white  settlement 
in  Michigan. 

On  the  28th  of  August,  1660,  Rene  Mesnard  left  Quebec, 
resolved  to  make  greater  progress  in  the  exploration  of  the 
Northwest.  He  ascended  the  Sanlt  in  a  canoe,  coasted  along  the 
northern  shore  of  the  upper  peninsula  of  Michigan,  and  on  the 
15th  of  October  of  that  year  reached  the  head  of  Keweenaw 
bay  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  St.  Theresa.  Eight  years 
later  (1668)  a  permanent  mission  was  established  at  the  Sault. 
In  the  autumn  of  1678  occurred  an  event  forever  memorable  in 
the  annals  of  Michigan.  There  was  then  laid  on  the  Niagara 
river  the  keel  of  the  first  large  vessel  built  on  the  shores  of  the 
great  lakes.  It  was  completed  and  launched  early  in  the  follow 
ing  summer,  and  on  the  7th  of  August,  1679  (200  years  ago), 
amid  the  discharges  of  arquebuses  and  the  sound  of  swelling  Te 
Deums  it  began  the  first  voyage  ever  made  by  Europeans  upon 
the  upper  inland  seas  of  North  America.  This  was  the  "  Griffin," 
sixty  tons  burden,  carrying  five  guns,  with  La  Salle  commander, 
Heimepin  missionary  and  journalist,  and  a  crew  of  Canadian  fur 
traders.  Three  days  later  (August  10),  after  many  soundings, 
they  reached  the  islands  grouped  at  the  entrance  of  Detroit 
river.  They  thus  knew  the  lake  was  navigable  by  vessels  of  large 
size — this  was  one  step  toward  solving  the  destiny  of  the  West. 
Ascending  the  river,  the  explorers  passed  by  a  large  number  of 


56  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER 

Indian  villages ;  these  had  been  visited  years  before  by  Jesuit 
missionaries  and  coureurs  des  bois.  Some  fix  the  date  as  early 
as  1610,  but  others  make  it  later,  no  names  being  given  in 
either  case.  Louis  Hennepin  gives  the  earliest  description  of  the 
river :  "  The  strait  ( De  troit )  is  finer  than  Niagara,  being  one 
"league  broad,  excepting  that  part  which  forms  the  lake  that 
"  we  have  called  St.  Clair."  The  strait  once  voyaged  and 
understood,  its  value  was  quickly  appreciated  by  the  French  as  a 
means  of  resisting  the  inroads  of  the  persevering  English  (who 
from  New  York  and  New  England  were  pressing  upon  their 
possessions  in  the  East),  and  of  preventing  British  interference 
wTith  the  valuable  hunting  privileges  or  with  the  Indian  tribes 
dwelling  upon  the  borders  of  the  Northern  lakes.  With  this  in 
view  the  Marquis  de  Nonville,  Governor  -  General  of  the  Canadas, 
ordered  ( June  6,  1086)  M.  Du  Lliut,  WT!IO  had  been  command 
ant  at  Michilimackinac,  "to  establish  a  post  on  the  Detroit,  near 
Lake  Erie,  with  a  garrison  of  fifty  men/'  and  the  order  added, 
"  I  desire  you  to  choose  an  advantageous  place  to  secure  the 
"  passage,  which  may  protect  our  savages  who  go  to  the  chase, 
"  and  serve  them  as  an  asylum  against  their  enemies  and  ours." 
In  obedience  to  these  instructions,  M.  Du  Lhut  proceeded  to  the 
entrance  of  the  strait  from  Lake  Huron,  where  he  built  a  fort 
and  established  a  trading  post  (on  the  site  of  the  present  Eort 
Gratiot)  which  he  called  Fort  St.  Joseph.  Thus  (1686)  was 
made  the  first  settlement  by  Europeans  in  the  lower  peninsula 
of  Michigan. 

The  misfortunes  of  the  war  with  England  which  terminated 
with  the  peace  of  Ryswick  (Sept.  1,  1697,)  still  further  con 
vinced  the  most  sagacious  of  the  leading  French  colonists  of  the 
importance  of  a  fort  on  the  Detroit  river  which  would  command 
this  channel  of  communication  with  the  great  lakes  above.  Im 
pressed  with  this  fact,  Antoine  de  la  Mothe  Cadillac,  a  Gascon 
sailor  who  amid  a  career  of  romantic  adventure  came  to  be 


NORTHWESTERN    DEVELOPMENT.  57 

commandant  at  Michilimackinac,  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  person, 
and  earnestly  and  repeatedly  pressed  upon  the  colonial  minister, 
Count  Ponchartrain,  the  necessity  of  the  prompt  establishment 
of  a  permanent  post  on  the  Detroit,  where  it  would  bring  the 
French  forces  in  closer  proximity  to  the  Iroquois  and  would  give 
them  command  of  the  waters  of  the  upper  lakes  and  of  the 
great  fur  trading  regions  about  them.  Cadillac  did  not  urge 
this  as  a  missionary  enterprise  but  for  its  commercial  and  mili 
tary  advantages,  and  the  force  and  vigor  of  his  representations 
prevailed  at  the  palace.  He  sailed  from  France  with  the  royal 
order,  "Take  prompt  possession  of  Detroit,"  with  this  supple 
ment  from  Ponchartrain  :  "  Prosecute  vigorously ;  if  the  Jesuits 
obstruct,  return  and  report."  Cadillac  arrived  in  Quebec  early 
in  the  first  year  of  the  eighteenth  century  (March  8).  Three 
months  later  (June  5)  his  preparations  were  made,  and  on  that 
day  he  took  his  departure  from  La  Chine.  "With  him  were 
Captain  Tonti,  Lieutenants  Dugue  and  Chacornacle,  fifty  soldiers, 
and  fifty  Canadian  traders  and  artisans.  Nineteen  days  later  he 
arrived  upon  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Detroit.  In  his 
memoir  Cadillac  wrote:  "I  arrived  at  Detroit,  July  24  (1701), 
"  and  fortified  myself  there  immediately.  1  had  the  necessary 
"  huts  made  and  cleared  up  the  ground  preparatory  to  its  being 
"  sowed  in  the  autumn."  When  he  touched  the  shore  of  Michi 
gan,  with  pomp  and  ceremony  he  erected  a  cross,  a  cedar  post 
beside  it ;  then  with  a  sword  in  one  hand  and  a«  sod  in  the  other 
he  made  solemn  proclamation  with  many  words  of  u  possession 
taken"  of  all  the  country  round  about,  from  the  great  lakes  to 
the  south  seas,  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  France. 

Thus  French  Michigan  began,  and  so  it  remained  until 
Wolfe's  victory  gave  new  rulers  to  Canada  and  to  all  the  French 
possessions  beyond.  On  Kov.  29,  1760,  the  French  flag  floated 
for  the  last  time  over  Detroit,  as  a  part  of  the  dominion  of 
France. '  On  that  day  Maj.  Robert  Rogers,  an  English  provincial 


58  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

officer,  native  of  'New  Hampshire,  took  possession  in  the  name 
of  another  king,  ran  up  the  Cross  of  St.  George,  fired  a  salute, 
gave  some  round  British  cheers,  and  (the  Treaty  of  Paris  con 
firming  this  occupation)  Michigan  was  English.  It  so  remained 
until  the  Revolution  and  the  treaty  of  1783  made  it  American. 
But  it  was  not  until  thirteen  years  after  (1796)  that  it  was 
evacuated  by  the  British  garrison ;  in  June  of  that  year  Captain 
Porter  with  a  detachment  of  American  troops  entered  the  fort 
and  hoisted  the  Union  flag  for  the  first  time,  and  took  formal 
possession  in  the  name  of  the  United  States.  The  Hull  surren 
der  again  swept  Detroit  and  that  part  of  Michigan  lying  within 
its  command  under  the  Cross  of  St.  George  (Aug.  16,  1812,)  to 
remain  until  Perry's  victory  and  the  subsequent  military  successes 
of  General  Harrison  expelled  the  English  and  restored  it  perman 
ently  to  the  Union,  on  Sept.  28,  1813.  During  the  Revolution 
Detroit  was  the  headquarters  of  British  poAver  in  the  Northwest, 
and  from  it  were  sent  out  the  expeditions  which  ravaged  the 
frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia. 

The  British  captain,  Rogers,  who  took  possession  in  1760, 
afterwards  reported  the  population  (1765)  as:  Able-bodied  men, 
243;  women,  164;  children,  294  —  total,  701.  This  was  exclusive 
of  the  garrison,  who  were  sent  away  as  prisoners  of  war,  and 
included  the  60  men,  women  and  children  who  were  slaves.  He 
also  reported  that  of  the  French  families  remaining  in  the  settle 
ment  there  wrere-23  men  able  to  bear  arms,  24  women,  and  41 
children.  The  others  were  probably  English  who  had  followed 
upon  the  track  of  the  troops.  Captain  Rogers's  report  gives 
strength  to  th's  supposition.  It  says :  "  There  are  in  the  fort 
many  English  merchants,  several  of  whom  have  bought  houses." 
Then  it  gives  this  insight  into  the  industrial  condition  of  the 
settlement  :  "  Of  farms  there  are  40,  and  some  fourscore 
"acres  in  depth  with  a  frontage  on  the  river;  of  these  several 
"  farms  are  at  present  in  cultivation."  The  number  of  acres 


NORTHWESTERN    DEVELOPMENT.  59 

under  cultivation  is  given  as  404;  number  of  bushels  of  wheat 
raised  the  preceding  year,  670 ;  bushels  of  corn,  1,884.  The 
report  quaintly  adds :  "  The  Indian  corn  would  have  been  in 
"  greater  abundance,  had  proper  care  been  taken  of  it ;  the  most 
"  part  has  been  devoured  by  birds." 

Here  remote  from  the  world,  with  the  joyous  sparkling  of 
the  great  river  at  their  feet,  the  luxuriance  of  the  forest  about 
them,  the  cottages  of  the  settlers  peeping  out  from  the  green 
foliage  in  which  they  were  half  hidden,  these  simple  colonists 
lived  uneventful  lives,  surrounded  by  the  beauty  and  the  bounties 
of  nature.  The  forests  teemed  with  game,  the  marshes  with  wild 
fowl,  and  the  rivers  with  fish.  The  long  winters  were  seasons  of 
enjoyment.  In  summer  and  autumn  traders,  voyageurs,  coureurs 
des  bois,  and  half-breeds  gathered  from  the  distant  Northwest,  and 
the  settlement  wTas  boisterous  with  rude  frolic  and  gaiety.  This 
was  Detroit  and  Michigan  in  1765.* 

Between  the  French  surrender  and  American  occupancy,  little 
was  done  toward  the  development  of  the  peninsulas.  In  1796 
there  were  a  few  straggling  settlements  on  the  Detroit  river,  as 
also  on  Otter  creek  and  on  the  rivers  Rouge,  Pointe  aux  Trem 
ble,  and  other  small  streams  flowing  into  Lake  Erie.  The  French 
Canadians  had  extended  their  farms  to  a  considerable  distance 
along  the  banks  of  the  St.  Clair.  Detroit  was  a  small  cluster  of 
rude  wooden  houses,  defended  by  a  fort,  and  surrounded  by 
pickets.  Villages  of  the  Ottawas  and  Pottawatamies  stood  on 
the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Monroe,  and  near  them  were  a 
few  primitive  cabins  constructed  of  logs,  erected  by  the  French 
on  either  bank  of  the  river  Raisin ;  this  was  called  Frenchtown, 
and  is  now  part  of  Monroe.  On  the  upper  lakes  there  were  the 
posts  on  the  island  of  Mackinac,  at  St.  Marie,  and  at  St.  Joseph 
(on  the  St.  Joseph  river).  The  transition  from  France  to  Eng- 


*This  is  Parkman's  picture  in   "The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac." 


00  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

land  Lad  given  the  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade  to  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company,  thus  changing  the  direction  of  its  profits ;  other 
wise  the  effect  upon  Michigan  had  been  a  change  of  masters, 
flag  and  garrison,  and  little  else.  And  the  shifting  from  England 
to  the  United  States  also  meant  only  new  faces  and  new  colors 
in  the  fort ;  otherwise  it  was  for  the  time  effectless. 

The  interior  of  the  country  was  but  little  known  except  to 
those  engaged  in  the  fur  trade,  and  they  were  interested  in 
depreciating  its  value.  Even  as  late  as  1807  the  Indian  titles 
had  only  been  partially  extinguished,  and  no  portion  of  the  pub 
lic  domain  had  been  brought  into  the  market.  The  opposite 
shore  was  occupied  by  a  vigilant  and  jealous  foreign  power.  The 
interior  of  the  future  State  swarmed  with  the  savages  who  yet 
made  it  their  home,  and  an  Indian  war  was  threatening.  These 
things  repelled  the  tide  of  immigration  that  was  already  surging 
over  Ohio  and  tho  country  bordering  on  the  Ohio  river.  Four 
teen  years  after  American  possession  the  population  of  Michigan 
was  given  as:  Whites,  4,384;  free  blacks,  120;  slaA^es,  24  — total, 
4,528.  Five  years  before  the  number  of  householders  in  the 
lower  peninsula  was  officially  given  as  525.  There  are  antecedent 
estimates  of  population  and  assertions,  but  no  facts  that  can  be 
relied  on.  It  is,  however,  probable  that  at  the  time  of  the  Brit 
ish  evacuation  (1796)  the  population  did  not  exceed  2,500  souls, 
for  two  years  afterwards  (1708)  Wayne  county,  then  co-extensive 
with  the  present  State  of  Michigan,  sent  a  representative  to 
Chillicothe,  where  it  was  claimed  that  the  ^Northwest  Territory 
was  entitled  to  a  delegate  in  Congress  because  there  were  then 

C5  & 

5,000  inhabitants  within  its  boundaries.  It  can  scarcely  be  pos 
sible  that  half  of  that  aggregate  was  in  Michigan  alone,  and  that 
its  settlers  then  equaled  in  numbers  those  scattered  over  the 
inviting  and  fertile  region  which  now  includes  the  powerful  and 
populous  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois. 


NORTHWESTERN    DEVELOPMENT.  61 

The  growth  of  the  decade  succeeding  1810  was  trifling.  In 
1820  the  census  showed  but  9,048  souls  in  Michigan  Territory, 
which  included  the  present  State  and  the  region  beyond  the 
lakes  north  of  Illinois.  The  war  was  over.  Indian  depredations 
had  ceased  and  the  Indian  titles  had  been  quieted.  The  perils 
of  settlement  were  removed.  The  seeming  obstacles  of  the  toil 
and  privations  of  frontier  existence  were  mere  cobwebs  in  the 
way  of  the  hardy  and  adventurous.  But  there  yet  remained 
serious  impediments  to  Michigan's  growth."  Distance  was  one, 
for  the  State  was  still  difficult  of  access,  and  canals  and  railroads 
were  yet  in  the  future.  A  more  serious  impediment  was  a 
blunder.  On  May  6,  1812,  Congress  passed  an  act  requiring  that 
2,000,000  acres  of  land  should  be  surveyed  in  Michigan  Territory. 
The  surveyors  went  into  the  forest  with  their  chains  and  poles, 
and  the  result  was  a  report  to  Congress  which  may  be  thus 
summarized :  "  Many  lakes  of  great  extent ;  marshes  on  their 
"  margins ;  marshes  between ;  other  places  covered  with  coarse 
"  high  grass ;  this  grass  covered  with  water  from  six  inches  to 
"three  feet;  lakes  and  swamps  over  half  the  country;  the  inter- 
"  mediate  space  poor,  barren  and  sandy ;  the  dry  land  composed 
"  of  sand  -  hills,  with  deep  basins  between  and  more  water ;  the 
"margins  of  many  of  the  streams  and  lakes  literally  afloat,  or 
"thinly  covered  with  a  sward  of  grass  with  water  and  mud 
"  underneath ;  the  country  altogether  so  bad  that  there  wrould 
"not  be  more  than  one  acre  out  of  a  hundred,  if  there  would 
"be  one  out  of  a  thousand,  that  would  in  any  case  admit  of 
"cultivation."  Official  stupidity  had  its  effect  on  Congress,  and 
in  1816  (April  29)  that  body  cancelled  the  survey  order,  and 
abandoned  Michigan  to  the  hunters  and  trappers  and  their 
game.  For  two  years  this  continued ;  but  the  adventurous 
would  plunge  into  the  wilderness  and  would  come  back  and  talk 
of  beautiful  valleys,  broad  prairies  and  fertile  soils.  Explorations 
widened  and  a  multitude  of  witnesses  came  with  their  facts  to 


62  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER 

prove  that  the  curtain  of  forest  concealed  something  more  invit 
ing  than  marsh  and  barren  and  sand-hill.  Then  the  government 
(1818)  ordered  a  new  survey  and  out  of  all  this  came  part  of 
the  truth,  namely :  There  was  in  this  wilderness  an  immense 
variety  of  forest  trees  —  oak,  maple,  ash,  elm,  sycamore,  locust, 
butternut,  walnut,  poplar,  whitewood,  beech,  hemlock,  spruce, 
tamarack,  chestnut,  white,  yellow,  and  Norway  pine.  There  were 
plains  and  natural  parks;  there  were  level  prairies  and  hills  rising 
with  gradual  swell  away  to  the  center  of  the  State.  Of  soils 
there  were  deep  sandy  loams  mixed  with  limestone  pebbles,  deep 
vegetable  moulds  mingled  with  clay  producing  dense  and  lux 
uriant  vegetation,  brown  loams  mingled  with  clay,  deep  vegetable 
moulds  with  a  surface  covering  of  black  sands.  There  was  water 
in  abundance,  rivers  and  streams  and  creeks  and  beautiful  lakes. 
All  these  reports  and  more,  confirmed  and  re -confirmed  by 
pioneers  and  surveyors,  came  back  from  the  interior,  until  the 
exceeding  richness  and  great  agricultural  value  of  the  Lower 
Peninsula  of  Michigan  was  established. 

But  another  event  was  to  exercise  a  most  important  influence 
upon  the  future  State.  In  1817  the  first  steamer  upon  the 
Northern  lakes,  the  "  Ontario,"  was  launched,  and,  amid  bonfires, 
illuminations  and  most  lively  demonstrations  of  joy,  made  her 
first  trip  upon  Lake  Ontario.  This  heralded  the  dawn  of  a 
material  revolution.  One  year  later,  on  the  27th  day  of  August, 
1818,  the  "  Walk-in-the- water,"  the  first  steamer  launched  above 
Niagara  Falls,  came  up  to  the  wharves  of  Detroit  after  a  passage 
of  forty- four  hours  from  Buffalo.  This  vessel,  of  only  340  tons, 
and  lost  three  years  later,  was  a  puny  affair,  but  wise  men  saw 
in  her  advent  the  promise  of  a  future  which  time  has  more  than 
realized.  Then  in  the  wake  of  the  steamer,  Congress  (1819) 
ordered  the  public  lands  of  Michigan  placed  in  the  market  for 
sale.  At  this  time  Detroit  contained  250  houses,  1,415  inhabi 
tants,  and  the  entire  territory  a  population  of  8,896.  In  1825 


NORTHWESTERN    DEVELOPMENT.  63 

the  Erie  canal  was  completed,  and  its  far-sighted  projector, 
Be  Witt  Clinton,  sailed  amid  national  acclamations  from  Lake 
Erie  to  tide -water.  It  completed  the  link  of  direct  water 
communication  with  Michigan,  and  the  stream  of  Western  emi 
gration  was  quickly  swollen  to  a  torrent. 

Mr.  Chandler  first  came  to  Michigan  in  1833.  Three  years 
before  (1830)  the  census  of  the  entire  territory,  as  it  was 
constituted  when  Illinois  was  admitted  to  the  Union,  was  32,531. 
The  growth  during  the  preceding  decade  had  been  steady,  not 
immense;  that  was  to  come  after.  It  was  in  the  year  of  1833 
that  the  first  settlement  was  made  in  the  present  State  of  Iowa. 
And  in  that  fall  (September)  the  people  of  Detroit  were  rejoicing 
that  "  arrangements  were  in  train  for  the  establishment  of  a  new 
"stage -line  route  to  Chicago,  by  which  travelers  can  go  from 
"one  place  to  the  other  in  five  days."  There  was  not  then  a 
mile  of  railroad  in  the  territory,  and  not  until  five  years  after 
(1838)  was  the  first  twenty- nine  miles  completed  to  Ypsilanti. 
Detroit  was  still  a  frontier  post  numbering  less  than  4,000 
inhabitants.  On  all  the  Western,  lakes  at  the  beginning  of  that 
year  there  were  but  eighteen  steamers,  ranging  from  fifty  to 
395  tons  in  burden,  and  aggregating  but  3,710  tons,  and  with 
the  best  of  these  a  voyage  of  thirty -nine  hours  from  Buffalo 
to  Detroit  wras  a  remarkable  passage.  All  this  was  improvement ; 
yet  the  Detroit  merchant  in  that  year  could  not  expect  to  receive 
his  purchases  made  in  New  York  within  less  than  from  three  to 
six  months  after  the  time  of  setting  out  to  procure  them. 
During  the  winter  steamboats  and  river  craft  were  ice -bound, 
and  the  settlements  at  Detroit,  the  Eiver  Raisin  and  elsewhere 
throughout  the  broad  peninsula,  were  shut  out  from  the  Eastern 
world,  except  as  travelers  braved  the  tedious  and  painful  staging 
through  Canada  to  Buffalo,  with  its  week  of  continuous  day  and 
night  journeying. 


64  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

A  year  later  (1834)  Congress  defined  the  boundaries  of  Mich 
igan  Territory.      Let  the   linger  trace    on    the    atlas   the   northern 
borders    of     Ohio    and    Indiana,    follow  around  the    south    shore 
of   Lake   Michigan   to   the   boundary  between  Wisconsin   and  Illi 
nois,  pursue    that    line    to    the    Mississippi    river,  then   down    its 
stream  to   the    north    line    of    the    State    of    Missouri,  along   that 
westward   to    the    Missouri,  and  up  that  river  until   between   the 
25th  and   26th   degrees   of    west  longitude  the  finger  reaches  the 
faint    line,  coming    down   into    the   Missouri   from   the   north,  of 
the    White    Earth    river  —  all    the    land   and    lakes    between    the 
Detroit  straits  and  this  little  White  Earth  river  and  between  the 
line  so  traced  and  the  British  possessions,  was  Michigan  Territory 
in   1834   and  until    Michigan  was    admitted   as    a    State  into    the 
Union.     It    was    an    imperial    domain,  larger   than    Sweden    and 
Norway  united ;   nearly  three  times  greater  than  England,  Wales, 
Scotland,  Ireland,  and  the  Channel  islands ;  surpassing  the  united 
territories    of    France,   Belgium,   Switzerland,  Denmark    and    The 
Netherlands;    even  exceeding  the  combined  acreage  of  Italy  and 
the  German  Empire.     Yet  in  all  this  region,  when  Mr.  Chandler 
displayed  his  first  stock  of   goods  in    Detroit,  there  was  not  one 
mile  of  railroad  or  telegraph,  not  one  steam  mill  or  manufactory, 
but  one   city  approaching  4,000  inhabitants  and  not   one    exceed 
ing  it,  and  not  a  single  mile  of  paved  street  or  sewerage.     There 
w\as  but  one  water -works,  and  no  gas-works.     There  was  not  one 
daily  newspaper,  and   but    few    of    any  kind.     The  valuable  iron 
deposits  of  the  Upper  Peninsula  were  undiscovered.     The  wealth 
of  pine  timber  was  unknown.     In  the  previous  year  (1832)  the 
total  value  of  foreign  and  domestic  produce  exported  from  Mich 
igan   amounted   to   but   the   trifling   sum    of    $9,234,  and   in   the 
preceding   federal   census   (1830)   the   entire   civilized  population 
of   this   vast   area  of   limitless   possibilities  was   less   than    33,000, 
although  there  were  then  in  the  Union  twenty-four  States  with  a 
population  of  12,866,020. 


Jillfc 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Mr.  Chandler  came  in  with  the  first  swell  of  the  great 
tide  of  emigration  which  broke  over  Michigan  Territory.  Up  to 
within  a  brief  period  preceding,  that  extensive  and  fertile  region 
was  scarcely  known  except  as  it  appeared  on  maps.  Its  rich 
prairies,  its  fertile  plains,  its  deep  forests  with  all  their  wealth, 
were  a  terra  incognita  to  all  white  men  except  the  fur  traders. 
But  it  was  being  rapidly  known  and  understood.  Its  fame  had 
rolled  back  over  the  East,  and  the  fruits  were  seen  in  the  new 
faces  and  sturdy  forms  swarming  to  Detroit  as  a  point  of  depart 
ure  to  the  new  and  beautiful  land.  In  that  year  (1833)  it  was 
a  matter  of  boasting  that  as  many  as  "  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  emigrants  had  landed  in  Detroit  in  one  day."  The  next 
year  Niles1  Register  had  a  report  from  Detroit  that  the  arrivals 
had  reached  the  magnificent  proportions  of  "nine  hundred  and 
sixty  in  one  day,"  and  that  "  the  streets  of  Detroit  were  full  of 
wagons  loading  and  departing  for  the  West,"  principally  for  the 
region  about  Grand  river.  And  the  same  journal  said :  "  The 
"  character  of  these  emigrants  is  in  every  respect  a  subject  of 
"  felicitation.  They  will  give  Michigan  a  capital  stock  of  wealth 
"and  moral  worth  unequaled  by  any  of  the  newly -formed  States, 
"  and  scarcely  approximated  by  Ohio." 

In  1833  and  for  more  than  a  year  afterward  the  business 
part  of  Detroit  was  confined  to  the  narrow  space  bounded  by 
Wayne  and  Randolph  streets,  Jefferson  avenue  and  the  river, 
and  at  the  same  time  there  were  but  few  buildings  on  Jefferson 
avenue  above  Rivard,  and  but  one  on  Woodward  avenue  north 
of  State  street.  Old  wind  -  mills  lined  the  shores ;  the  little 
unsightly  French  carts  clattered  through  the  streets;  ducks,  geese 
and  pigs  were  the  only  city  scavengers.  This  sounds  like  another 
age  —  another  continent  —  but  it  was  the  Detroit  and  Michigan 
of  but  forty -six  years  ago.  Change  came  with  population  — 
slowly  at  first,  then  with  increased  speed,  then  with  immense 
strides.  Mr.  Chandler  lived  to  see  it  all  and  to  be  a  part  of  it. 


NORTHWESTERN    DEVELOPMENT.  67 

He  came  with  the  early  tide  of  population;  he  saw  the  tide 
rising,  at  first  languid,  halting  and  uncertain ;  he  saw  it  year 
by  year  gathering  momentum  and  volume  until  it  swelled  and 
rolled  over  Michigan  a  mighty  Hood  of  brawn  and  brain,  of 
enterprise  and  conscience. 

On  the  fifth  day  of  November,  1879,  tens  of  thousands  of 
people  looked  upon  the  dead  face  of  the  stalwart  Senator  and 
followed  his  body  to  its  last  resting  place  in  the  city  to 
which  he  had  come  in  1833.  Forty -six  years  and  a  few  weeks 
had  passed ;  no  more.  But  in  that  time  the  city  which  he  made 
his  home  had  spread  its  wings  until  it  covered  an  area  of  thirteen 
and  a  half  square  miles,  with  300  miles  of  streets  (seventy -six 
miles  paved),  and  some  of  them  among  the  broadest  and  most 
beautiful  in  the  world,  shaded  by  rows  of  graceful  trees  of  lux 
uriant  foliage,  and  adorned  by  stores  and  private  residences  rich 
in  finish  and  architecture.  It  had  200  miles  of  water-mains  and 
150  miles  of  sewers,  making  it  one  of  the  most  perfectly-drained 
cities  on  the  continent.  Its  population  had  grown  to  be  120,000, 
and  its  taxable  wealth  to  exceed  $87,000,000.  School  buildings, 
representing  a  public  investment  of  $650,000  and  accommodating 
15,000  pupils,  were  scattered  through  its  wards,  and  numerous 
churches. and  abundant  public  and  private  charitable  institutions 
made  proclamation  of  the  faith  and  philanthropy  of  its  citizens. 
Great  manufacturing  enterprises  lined  its  wharves  and  suburbs ; 
scores  of  railroad  trains  arrived  at  and  departed  from  its  depots 
daily;  and  the  commerce  of  the  lakes  was  passing  along  its  river 
front  at  the  rate  of  thousands  of  tons  hourly. 

But  the  change  in  Michigan  had  been  no  less  marvelous. 
The  State  has  a  representation  in  the  present  Congress  of  the 
United  States  exceeding  that  of  any  one  of  eight  of  the  first 
States  of  the  Union,  equaling  the  representation  of  that  of  two 
others  (Georgia  and  Yirginia),  and  only  exceeded  by  that  of 
three  of  the  original  thirteen  —  Massachusetts,  New  York,  and 


$8  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER 

Pennsylvania.  In  a  single  county  of  the  Upper  Peninsula,  in 
1833  supposed  to  be  only  a  mass  of  barren,  uninviting  and  unin 
habitable  rocks,  there  are  three  cities  either  one  of  which  has  a 
greater  population  than  the  Detroit  of  that  day,  and  in  Michi 
gan  out  of  its  forty -three  cities  and  178  villages  (April,  1879) 
there  are  over  thirty  more  populous  than  Detroit  in  1833  —  some 
of  them  with  populations  from  five  to  eight  times  greater.  The 
people  of  the  State  are  a  million  and  a  half  in  number,  spread 
over  the  greater  part  of  the  Lower  Peninsula,  about  the  Sault, 
and  from  Marquette  to  Oritonagon  and  south  to  Menominee  in 
the  Upper  Peninsula.  Its  newspapers  have  grown  to  twenty- 
three  dailies  and  over  300  with  less  frequent  issues.  Its  railroads 
have  developed  from  non-existence  to  3,500  miles,  owned  by 
thirty-six  corporations,  connecting  Detroit  and  the  principal  cities 
of  Michigan  with  all  portions  of  the  State,  penetrating  to  every 
center  of  population  and  industry,  costing  over  $160,000,000,  and 
paying  in  each  year  for  salaries  and  operating  expenses  over 
$13,000,000.  Strong  institutions  for  the  care  of  the  deaf  and 
dumb  and  the  blind  and  for  the  insane,  a  thriving  college  for 
agricultural  education,  and  that  noblest  monument  of  the  wisdom 
and  forethought  of  the  latter-day  founders  of  Michigan,  the  State 
University,  were  all  planted  in  these  years.  And  with  this,  the 
public  school  system  was  nourished  until  there  are  over  300 
graded  schools  and  over  6,000  public  schools  in  the  State,  with 
property  valued  at  over  $9,000,000,  paying  almost  $2,000,000 
yearly  in  teachers'  wages,  and  with  annual  resources  amounting 
to  nearly  $4,000,000.  In  the  mountains  of  the  Upper  Penin 
sula,  so  long  reputed  a  barren  wilderness,  have  been  discovered 
exhaustless  mines  of  the  richest  iron  ores  and  the  most  extensive 
and  valuable  copper  deposits  known  on  the  globe.  The  Saginaw 
Yalley  has  poured  a  briny  stream  of  wealth  upon  the  State 
from  its  unfailing  salt -wells,  and  from  the  forests  about  and 
beyond  to  the  westernmost  limits  of  Michigan  have  been  gathered 


NORTHWESTERN    DEVELOPMENT.  69 

great  treasures  of  pine  and  hard  woods.  And  while  nature  was 
yielding  its  hidden  stores  to  enrich  the  State  its  skilled  citizens 
were  not  idle.  Over  10,000  manufacturing  establishments  in 
Michigan  now  employ  upward  of  70,000  people,  pay  more  than 
§25,000,000  annually  in  wages,  make  an  infinite  variety  of  wares, 
and  turn  out  products  each  year  amounting  in  value  to  more 
than  §130,000,000.  The  statistics  of  agricultural  development 
are  equally  remarkable.  The  log  cabin  and  the  clearings  have 
yielded  to  ample  farms.  The  marsh,  the  pine  barren,  even  the 
hyperborean  soil  of  the  Upper  Peninsula,  have  been  transformed 
into  productive  wheat -fields.  The  cereals  of  Michigan  exceed  in 
their  annual  product  70,000,000  bushels,  and  §15,000,000  in  their 
value.  Highly  cultivated  and  valuable  farms  (over  111,000  in 
number  and  with  a  total  acreage  of  10,000,000)  cover  the  greater 
part  of  the  Lower  Peninsula.  Comfortable,  even  stately,  farm 
houses  dot  the  landscape.  School  -  houses,  churches,  villages, 
towns  and  cities  stand  where  the  forest  was.  The  wilderness  has 
fled  away.  Everywhere  there  are  evidences  of  peace,  prosperity, 
happiness  and  a  high  civilization.  It  is  magic ;  courage,  intelli 
gence  and  industry  have  been  the  magicians. 

The  changes  in  the  other  parts  of  the  Michigan  Territory 
of  1833  have  been  no  less  marvelous.  Four  States  have  been 
carved  out  of  that  region  whose  boundaries  in  1834  were 
traced  on  the  atlas  —  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Iowa  and  Minnesota 
—  and  the  great  wheat  farms  of  Dakota  will  soon  develop  into 
a  fifth.  This  entire  territory  to-day  has  eight  Senators,  twenty- 
nine  Representatives  and  one  Delegate  in  Congress,  has  OA^er 
11,000  miles  of  railroad,  seventy -seven  daily  papers  and  over 
1,100  weekly  or  monthly  publications,  and  several  great  cities 
larger  than  Philadelphia  and  Kew  York  when  the  United  States 
had  taken  its  second  census.  It  has  a  population  greater  than 
that  of  the  thirteen  colonies  which  successfully  defied  the  power 
of  Great  Britain  during  the  He  volution,  greater  than  that  of  the 


TO  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER 

six  New  England  States  in  the  present  day.  It  produces  a  larger 
amount  of  breadstuff's  than  the  whole  Union  yielded  when  Mr. 
Chandler  first  came  to  the  territory,  and  contains  more  wealth 
than  did  all  the  States  fifty  years  ago. 

This  is  a  marvelous  story  of  growth.  Nothing  in  the  Old 
World  has  equaled  it.  Nothing  the  New  has  exceeded  it.  It 
has  confounded  prophecy.  It  has  outrun  imagination.  It  is  the 
achievement  of  a  stalwart  race.  It  is  the  triumph  of  faith,  of 
zeal,  of  courage.  It  dazzles  the  men  of  to-day.  And  it  will 
stand  for  centuries  to  excite  the  admiration  of  the  historian  and 
the  wonder  of  the  future. 


CHAP  TEE    Y. 

THE     COMMENCEMENT    OF    POLITICAL    ACTIVITY RECORD    AS    AN 

ANTI-  SLAVERY   WHIG. 

'HE  conspicuous  figure  in  Michigan  politics,  when 
Zacliariali  Chandler  landed  at  Detroit  and  for  twenty-five 
years  afterward,  was  Lewis  Cass.  He  was  a  man  of  abil 
ity  and  many  accomplishments,  irreproachable  in  private 
life,  and  with  a  claim  upon  the  enduring  gratitude  of  the  people 
of  the  Northwest  for  his  large  share  in  the  founding  of  mighty 
States  about  the  shores  of  the  great  lakes.  He  came  to  Michi 
gan  with  military  distinction,  and  had  added  to  his  laurels  civic 
honors  as  a  territorial  ruler,  as  a  skilful  negotiator  with  the 
Indians,  and  as  an  intrepid  explorer.  General  Cass  was  a  warm 
political  and  personal  friend  of  Andrew  Jackson,  and  his  influ 
ence  made  Michigan  a  strongly  Democratic  territory  and  State. 
In  1831  he  had  been  appointed  Secretary  of  "War  in  President 
Jackson's  cabinet,  and  in  1836  he  was  sent  to  Paris  as  the  United 
States  Minister  at  the  court  of  Louis  Phillippe.  The  courage, 
vigor  and  skill  of  his  attack  upon  the  u  Quintuple  Treaty,"  which 
embodied  Great  Britain's  theories  on  the  then  delicate  topic  of 
the  right  of  search  on  the  high  seas,  and  which  was  defeated  by 
the  refusal  of  France  to  ratify  the  preliminary  negotiations, 
made  his  ambassadorship  an  event  in  European  diplomacy,  and 
gave  him  a  national  reputation  on  this  continent.  His  return  to 
Detroit  in  1843  was  attended  by  unusual  popular  demonstra 
tions  at  every  important  point  in  his  Westward  journey.  In  1845 
Michigan  sent  him  to  the  Senate,  and  in  1848  the  Democracy 
nominated  him  as  its  candidate  for  the  presidency.  That  a  man 


72  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

who  thus  made  a  new  commonwealth  influential  in  national  poli 
tics  should  call  about  him  a  strong  following  and  mould  public 
sentiment  at  his  own  home  was  natural,  and  the  State  of  Lewis 
Cass  was  long  regarded  as  staunchly  Democratic.  His  party  held 
control  for  years  of  the  main  avenues  of  political  preferment, 
and  not  a  few  young  men  of  parts  and  ambition  who  came  to 
Michigan  as  Whigs  were  led  into  the  ranks  of  the  Democracy 
by  the  fact  that  it  was  the  only  organization  which  had  honors 
and  offices  to  bestow. 

General  Cass  was  a  courtly  gentleman,  dignified  in  manners, 
who,  with  a  natural  boldness  of  character  which  never  lost 
wholly  its  power  of  self-assertion,  gradually  became  ultra -con 
servative  in  his  Democracy.  Originally  lie  had  anti- slavery 
tendencies,  but  the  Southern  drift  of  his  party,  which  became 
apparent  about  the  time  of  his  return  from  France,  carried  him 
with  it,  and  he  grew  to  be  one  of  the  most  assiduous  originators 
and  supporters  of  the  series  of  compromises  which  so  long 
defeated  justice  and  encouraged  the  aggressions  of  the  slave 
power.  The  result  was  that  in  time  the  hammer  of  his  personal 
influence  in  Michigan  was  broken  on  the  anvil  of  Xew  England 
ideas,  while  his  name  became  the  symbol  of  "hunkerism"  in  the 
Northwest;  but  in  December,  1860,  his  octogenarian  patriotism 
flamed  up  in  the  presence  of  armed  treason  and  executive  imbe 
cility,  and  he  branded  the  administration  of  James  Buchanan  as 
it  deserved  by  indignantly  resigning  the  portfolio  of  the  depart 
ment  of  state.  ~No  political  contrast  could  well  be  more  vivid 
than  that  between  Lewis  Cass  and  the  man  who  succeeded 
him  in  the  Senate,  and  replaced  him  in  the  political  leader 
ship  of  Michigan,  representing  a  greater  State,  a  nobler  political 
cause,  and  instead  of  the  make -shifts  of  compromise  ideas  which 
are  to-day  embodied  in  the  fabric  of  American  civilization. 

Zachariah  Chandler's  father  was  originally  a  Federalist,  and 
then  a  Whig.  The  son  brought  with  him  to  Detroit  Whig 


EARLY   POLITICAL   ACTIVITY.  73 

sympathies  and  anti-  slavery  convictions,  but  no  predisposition 
to  political  activity.  For  many  years  lie  refused  to  divert  his 
energies  from  his  mercantile  pursuits,  and  took  no  share  in 
party  contests,  except  such  as  would  be  natural  in  the  case  of 
any  enterprising  citizen  with  a  lively  interest  in  public  questions. 
He  was  known  as  a  staunch  Whig,  and  he  thoroughly  identi 
fied  himself  with  that  party  when  in  both  Michigan  and  the 
Union  its  victories  seemed  accidental,  and  its  defeats  certain. 
Between  1837  and  18-i8  his  name  frequently  appears  among 
the  officers  of  Whig  meetings,  or  as  a  member  of  the  elec 
tion  day  vigilance  committees  of  his  party,  and  (very  rarely) 
as  a  ward  delegate  to  Whig  conventions.  He  was  a  regular 
contributor  to  the  campaign  fund,  and  he  did  his  share  of 
work  at  the  polls.  At  that  time  the  labors  of  election  day 
were  not  those  of  persuasion  merely.  Partisan  feeling  was  bitter, 
and  in  the  population  of  the  growing  frontier  city,  there  was  a 
strong  ruffianly  element,  which  was  as  a  rule  Democratic  in  its 
sympathies.  In  close  contests  mobs  sometimes  gathered  about 
the  voting  places,  and  sought  by  jostling  and  occasional  assaults 
to  keep  away  from  the  ballot-boxes  the  more  timid  or  fastidious 
of  the  Whigs.  On  these  occasions  Mr.  Chandler  was  among  the 
men  of  strong  frames,  sinewy  arms,  and  pugnacity  of  spirit,  who 
furnished  the  Whig  muscle  to  defeat  this  variety  of  "Loco-foco 
trick."  He  and  Alanson  Sheley  (now  a  well-known  Detroit  mer 
chant)  were,  with  a  few  others  of  like  strength  and  stature,  the 
Whig  body  -  guard  who  forced  a  way  for  voters  through  the  dense 
crowd,  and  interposed  for  the  rescue  of  the  threatened.  There 
is  no  lack  of  amusing  anecdotes  of  this  species  of  service  ren 
dered  by  Mr.  Chandler  to  the  Whig  party;  and  it  was  at  timer, 
attended  by  serious  danger.  In  later  years  he  credited  Mr. 
Sheley  with  having  saved  his  life  in  one  of  these  election 
disturbances,  and  frequently  recalled  reminiscences  of  the  mus 
cular  exploits  of  those  days.  It  was  not  until  Mr  Chandler 


Ti  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

was  a  Whig  of  nearly  twenty  years'  standing,  that  he  became 
that  party's  candidate  for  any  office,  or  that  he  actively  inter 
ested  himself  in  its  committee  work  and  practical  management. 
He  cast  a  void  vote  for  Harrison  in  1836,  before  Michigan  had 
been  formally  admitted ;  he  attended  the  monster  meetings  and 
sang  campaign  songs  in  the  log  cabins  of  1840,  and  gave 
then  a  valid  vote  to  Harrison ;  he  denounced  Tyler's  political 
treason,  and  in  1844:  cheered  for  Clay  and  Frelinglmyseii ;  he 
opposed  General  Cass  in  1848,  and  at  that  time  delivered  his 
maiden  speech,  in  support  of  "Zach."  Taylor;  but  it  was  not 
until  1851  that  he  manifested  any  especial  taste  for  or  skill  in 
politics,  or  that  he  allowed  his  name  to  be  used  as  a  candidate 
for  position. 

The  Whigs  of  Michigan  were  as  a  rule  of  ~New  England 
extraction,  and  the  masses  of  the  party  were  always  staunchly 
anti- slavery  in  sentiment.  They  charged  General  Case's  denun 
ciation  of  the  "  Quintuple  Treaty  "  to  ,a  disposition  to  seek 
Southern  approval  by  indirectly  shielding  the  slave  trade ;  they 
opposed  the  annexation  of  Texas,  applauded  the  Wilniot  Proviso, 
and  were  restive  under  Southern  aggression  and  slave -holding 
arrogance  at  the  capital.  The  few  Congressmen  whom  they 
were  able  to  elect  voted  uniformly  for  free  institutions  and 
against  the  extension  of  human  bondage.  Michigan's  first  Whig 
Senator,  Augustus  S.  Porter,  while  still  new  in  his  seat,  opposed 
alone  Calhouirs  resolutions  in  "  the  Enterprise  case "  ( a  vessel 
employed  in  the  coastwise  slave  trade  had  touched  at  Port  Ham 
ilton  in  the  British  West  Indies,  and  some  negro  chattels  who 
formed  part  of  her  cargo  had  taken  advantage  of  English  law 
to  assert  their  manhood  and  freedom),  and  cast  a  solitary  vote 
to  lay  them  upon  the  table.  Of  this  act  Joshua  R.  Giddings 
wrote :  "  Seeing  that  eminent  Senators  around  him  interposed 
"  no  objection  to  the  passage  of  the  resolutions,  Mr.  Porter, 
"  obeying  the  dictates  of  his  own  judgment  and  conscience, 


EARLY   POLITICAL   ACTIVITY.  75 

"  heroically  met  the  overwhelming  influence  arrayed  against  him, 
"  and  showed  the  most  cogent  reasons  for  rejecting  the  resolu- 
"  tions,  by  exhibiting  the  absurdity  of  the  attempt  to  induce  the 
"  British  government  to  acknowledge  the  laws  of  slavery  and  the 
"  slave  trade  to  exist  and  be  enforced  within  her  ports."  Both 
Mr.  Porter  and  William  Woodbridge  voted  against  the  resolution 
for  the  annexation  of  Texas.  In  the  House  of  the  Twenty -sev 
enth  Congress  Jacob  M.  Howard  acted  with  the  friends  of 
freedom  on  questions  involving  that  issue,  and  in  the  Thirtieth 
Congress  William  Sprague,  the  second  Whig  Representative,  was 
openly  classified  as  a  Free  Soiler.  In  1S49  the  Whigs  and  Free 
Sellers  united  to  support  Flavius  J.  Little  John  for  Governor,  and 
the  Whigs  of  Michigan  as  a  whole  were  a  body  of  intelligent 
and  conscientious  anti -slavery  men,  and  made  their  political 
weight  felt  on  the  side  of  free  institutions. 

Mr.  Chandler  was  from  his  boyhood  radical  in  his  opposition 
to  human  bondage,  and  for  a  time  hoped  that  the  Whig  party 
of  the  North  could  be  used  to  effectually  resist  the  conspiracy 
of  the  slave  power  against  the  territories.  His  anti -slavery 
activity  preceded  his  appearance  in  politics.  Detroit  was  an 
important  terminus  of  the  "Underground  Railroad,"  that  mys 
terious  organization  which  so  skilfully  and  quickly  transported 
colored  fugitives  from  the  Ohio  to  Canadian  soil,  and  Mr. 
Chandler,  while  still  absorbed  in  business,  was  a  frequent  and 
liberal  contributor  to  the  fund  for  its  operating  expenses.  He 
manifested  an  especial  interest  in  the  Crosswhite  case,  which 
played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  fugitive  slave  law  agitation 
preceding  the  compromises  of  1S50.  Adam  Crosswhite  was  the 
mulatto  son  of  a  slave  mother  who  was  owned  by  his  father,  a 
white  farmer  in  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky.  While  a  boy  he 
was  given  as  a  servant  to  his  half-sister,  a  Miss  Crosswhite,  who 
married  a  slave -dealer  named  Stone.  Her  husband  subsequently 
sold  her  brother  for  §200,  and  Crosswhite  ultimately  became  the 


76  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER, 

chattel  of  a  Kentucky  planter  named  Giltiier  living  in  Carroll 
county.  "When  he  had  reached  the  age  of  forty- four  and  had 
become  the  father  of  four  children,  he  learned  that  his  master 
was  planning  to  sell  a  portion  of  his  family.  The  parental 
instinct  drove  this  man  to  a  step  which  he  had  not  taken 
through  any  desire  for  personal  freedom,  and  he  determined 
upon  flight.  lie  succeeded  in  getting  his  entire  family  across 
the  Ohio  in  a  skiff,  and  into  the  hands  of  the  "  Underground 
Railway "  managers  in  Indiana.  There  was  a  vigorous  pursuit, 
and  at  Newport  the  fugitives  were  nearly  captured,  but  Quaker 
shrewdness  concealed  and  protected  them,  and  after  weeks  of 
stirring  adventure,  during  which  the  father  and  mother  were 
compelled  to  separate,  they  reached  Michigan,  and  became  the 
occupants  of  a  little  cabin  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  present 
city  of  Marshall.  They  were  quiet  and  industrious  citizens,  and 
by  thrift  and  unremitting  labor  commenced  making  payments 
on  their  homestead.  In  time  the  history  of  the  fugitives  became 
known  to  their  neighbors,  and  finally  some  one  with  the  genuine 
spirit  of  the  slave-driver  sent  to  Kentucky  information  concern 
ing  their  hiding  -  place.  In  December,  1846,  Francis  Troutman 
came  to  Marshall,  ostensibly  as  a  young  lawyer  in  search  of 
business,  but  in  fact  as  Giltner's  representative  in  identifying 
his  fugitive  slaves  and  planning  their  recapture.  He  did  his 
work  well,  through  artifice  and  with  the  help  of  aid  which  he 
hired  at  Marshall,  but  did  not  succeed  in  perfectly  concealing 
his  plans.  Crosswhite  received  warning  of  the  impending  dan 
ger,  and  both  armed  himself  and  arranged  with  sympathizing 
friends  for  prompt  assistance.  The  abduction  was  finally 
attempted  early  on  the  morning  of  Jan.  27,  1847.  Troutman 
was  assisted  by  David  Giltiier,  Franklin  Ford,  and  John  S.  Lee, 
all  Kentuckians,  and  the  four  men  were  well  armed.  Crosswhite 
saw  their  approach,  and  succeeded  in  giving  the  alarm,  but 
before  his  friends  commenced  to  assemble  the  Kentuckians  broke 


EARLY   POLITICAL   ACTIVITY.  77 

in  the  door  of  his  cabin  and  informed  the  negroes  that  they 
must  go  at  once  before  a  magistrate  where  it  was  proposed  to 
prove  the  fact  of  their  escape  from  slavery.  While  the  prepara 
tion  of  the  children  for  the  winter's  ride  to  the  justice's  office 
was  in  progress,  a  crowd,  at  first  largely  composed  of  colored 
men  but  soon  including  many  whites,  gathered  about  the  cabin, 
and  promptly  made  the  fact  apparent  that  they  were  in  no 
mood  to  permit  the  proposed  restoration  of  human  property  to 
its  Kentucky  owners.  The  courage  of  the  slave  -  hunters  did  not 
prove  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  finally  Troutman  resorted  to 
argument.  lie  harangued  the  jeering  crowd  on  the  sanctity  of 
the  fugitive  slave  law  and  the  legality  of  Giltner's  claim,  even 
offering  as  proof  of  his  law-abiding  spirit  not  to  take  back  to 
slavery  a  child  born  to  the  Crosswhites  since  their  escape.  The 
response  to  this  proposition  to  do  exact  justice  by  separating  an 
infant  from  its  mother  may  be  imagined,  and  in  the  end  the 
Kentuckians  abandoned  their  attempt.  Crosswhite  had  mean 
while  complained  against  them  for  trespass,  and  they  were  then 
arrested,  convicted  and  fined  $100.  Money  was  also  at  once 
raised  in  Marshall  by  which  the  negroes  were  sent  to  Detroit 
and  thence  to  Canada.  While  the  excitement  was  at  its  Light 
some  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  Marshall  joined  the  crowd, 
and  endeavored  to  restrain  them  from  violence  and  to  convince 
the  slave  -  hunters  of  the  folly  of  attempting  to  defy  the  aroused 
indignation  of  the  community;  they  were  careful,  however,  to 
avoid  any  violation  of  the  law.  Troutman  met  their  remon 
strances  by  a  demand  for  their  names.  One  of  them  replied, 
"  Charles  T.  Gorham ;  write  it  in  capital  letters."  The  answer 
of  another  was,  "  Oliver  Cromwell  Comstock,  Jr. ;  take  it  in 
"  full  so  that  my  father  may  not  be  held  responsible  for  what  I 
"  do."  Troutman  also  obtained  the  name  of  Jarvis  Iliird,  these 
three  being  well-known  residents  of  Marshall  and  gentlemen  of 
pecuniary  responsibility.  Nothing  further  took  place  at  the  time, 


78  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

and  in  a  few  days  the  Kentuckians  returned  to  their  State, 
which  was  soon  ailame  with  wrath  at  this  ''Northern  outrage." 
Public  meetings  were  held  to  denounce  the  u  abolition  rioters," 
the  most  exaggerated  accounts  of  the  Marshall  release  were  circu 
lated  and  believed,  the  event  received  Congressional  attention, 
and  finally  the  State  of  Kentucky  made  an  appropriation  for  the 
prosecution  of  all  who  were  concerned  in  the  escape  of  the 
Crosswhite  family.  Troutman  returned  to  Michigan  in  the  sum 
mer  of  18:1:7,  and  brought  an  action  to  recover  the  value  of  the 
rescued  slaves,  in  the  United  States  Circuit  Court,  against  a  large 
number  of  defendants ;  the  case  as  tried,  however,  was  practi 
cally  a  prosecution  of  Messrs.  Gorham,  Comstock,  and  Hurd. 
The  Kentuckians  retained  a  large  array  of  counsel,  including 
John  Xorvell,  the  veteran  Democratic  leader,  while  the  defense 
was  represented  by  Theodore  Koineyn,  Wells  &  Cook,  and 
Hovey  K.  Clarke,  with  II aimer  II.  Eminons  (subsequently  United 
States  Circuit  Judge)  and  James  F.  Joy  as  counsel.  Gerrit 
Smith  also  came  from  New  York  to  argue  the  constitutional 
question  involved,  but  the  defendants'  attorneys  did  not  deem  it 
prudent  in  a  jury  trial  at  that  time  to  ally  themselves  with  so 
radical  an  abolitionist.  The  case  wTas  taken  up  before  Justice 
John  MacLean,  in  1818,  and  attracted  national  attention.  The 
first  trial  took  place  in  the  June  term  and  resulted  in  a  disagree 
ment  of  the  jury.  A  second  trial  followed  in  November  and 
December  of  the  same  year  and  ended  in  a  verdict  for  the 
plaintiffs  of  $1,926  and  costs;  the  expenses  of  defending  the 
suits  had  also  imposed  heavy  pecuniary  burdens  upon  the  Mar 
shall  gentlemen.  Mr.  Gorham  was  then  a  Democrat,  and  found 
among  his  party  friends  a  strong  feeling  that  it  was  important 
at  that  time  and  in  so  conspicuous  a  case  that  Michigan  should 
manifest  a  disposition  to  rigidly  enforce  the  fugitive  slave  law, 
as  these  were  the  years  when  General  Cass's  presidential  aspira 
tions  culminated,  and  when  it  was  essential  that  his  hold  upon 


EARLY   POLITICAL   ACTIVITY.  79 

Southern  confidence  should  be  preserved.  There  was  no  lack  of 
private  expressions  of  Democratic  sympathy  with  the  defendants, 
and  assurances  were  given  that  they  should  not  be  left  to  meet 
alone  the  heavy  expenses  involved,  but  among  the  Democratic 
leaders  there  was  an  unmistakable  wish  that  the  prosecution 
should  be  vigorously  pushed  for  the  sake  of  its  political  effect, 
and  this  secret  pressure  had  a  powerful  influence.  This  case 
interested  Mr.  Chandler  from  the  outset,  and  he  watched  every 
development  closely.  Early  in  the  proceedings  he  met  Mr. 
Gorham,  with  whom  his  acquaintance  was  then  but  slight,  and 
said  to  him,  u  I  am  satisfied  from  what  I  have  seen  and  learned 
"  that  this  case  is  being  manipulated  in  the  interest  of  the  Dem- 
"  ocratic  party,  and  that  you  are  to  be  sacrificed  to  appease  the 
"  slave  power  of  the  South,  so  that  Cass  may  not  be  damaged 
"  by  the  result.  Offer  no  compromise ;  fight  them  through  to 
"  the  end ;  I  will  stand  by  you,  and  see  that  you  do  not  suffer." 
lie  was  as  good  as  his  word,  gave  and  helped  to  raise  money 
for  the  defense,  and  attended  the  trial  to  the  close.  Mr.  Gor 
ham,  who  received  no  Democratic  aid  of  importance,  became 
one  of  his  firmest  and  most  intimate  friends,  and  when  Mr. 
Chandler  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Interior  Mr.  Gorham 
(who  had  then  served  five  years  as  United  States  Minister  at 
The  Hague)  became  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  that  department. 
Of  the  same  period  of  Mr.  Chandler's  life  this  characteristic 
anecdote  is  told :  John  Sumner,  one  of  his  Jackson  customers, 
passed  Sunday  as  his  guest  in  Detroit,  and  at  church  listened 
with  him  to  a  sermon  of  pro -slavery  flavor,  followed  by  a 
prayer  by  a  visiting  clergyman  in  which  the  Divine  blessing 
was  earnestly  invoked  upon  the  down  -  trodden  and  the  oppressed. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  services  Mr.  Chandler  stepped  to  the 
foot  of  the  pulpit,  sought  an  introduction  to  the  utterer  of  the 
prayer,  and  said:  "Thank  you  for  that  prayer!  It  was  all 
that  I  have  heard  this  morning  that  was  worth  hearing." 


80  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Throughout    the  days   of  Mr.    Chandler's   earnest    attachment  to 
the  Whig  party,  liis  anti- slavery  feeling  was  pronounced. 

In  1848  Mr.  Chandler  fleshed  his  political  broadsword  with 
one  or  more  speeches  in  behalf  of  General  Taylor.  He  had 
been  an  occasional  participant  in  the  debates  of  the  Young 
Men's  Society,  the  training  -  school  for  not  a  few  of  Detroit's 
eminent  men,  but  in  that  year  for  the  first  time  he  addressed  a 
miscellaneous  audience  on  public  questions.  His  earlier  speeches 
showed  the  strength  of  the  man,  and  despite  some  ruggedness 
were  effective.  In  the  State  election  of  1849  Mr.  Chandler  took 
no  active  part.  In  1850  he  was  one  of  the  Wayne  county 
delegates  to  the  Whig  State  convention,  which  met  at  Jackson 
on  the  18th  of  September,  and  nominated  a  ticket  headed  by 
George  Martin,  of  Kent,  for  Secretary  of  State ;  the  following 
campaign  was  a  local  one,  arousing  but  little  interest,  and  in  it 
Mr.  Chandler  did  not  prominently  share.  On  February  19,  1851, 
the  Whigs  of  Detroit  held  a  convention  to  select  a  city  ticket 
for  the  charter  election  in  March,  and  after  one  informal  ballot 
Mr.  Chandler  was  unanimously  nominated  by  them  for  Mayor. 
This  event  marks  the  commencement  of  his  career  as  a  popular, 
shrewd,  and  successful  political  leader.  The  Democratic  candidate 
for  the  Mayoralty  was  Gen.  John  E.  Williams,  a  native  and  one 
of  the  foremost  citizens  of  Detroit,  the  president  of  the  Michigan 
constitutional  convention  of  1835,  and  the  senior  officer  of  the 
State  militia.  He  had  been  the  first  Mayor  of  the  city,  and  had 
held  that  place  for  six  terms,  and  was  a  man  of  practical  ability, 
the  owner  of  a  large  estate,  and  popular  with  the  people.  His 
personal  strength  made  him  a  formidable  candidate,  and  his  defeat 
not  easy  of  accomplishment.  Mr.  Chandler's  answer  to  the  dele 
gation  who  waited  upon  him  with  the  question,  "  Will  you  run 
on  the  Whig  ticket  against  John  II.  Williams  ? "  was,  "  I  will  and 
I  will  beat  him  too,"  and  he  put  all  his  energy  into  the 
campaign  which  followed.  The  Whig  convention  by  resolution 


EARLY  POLITICAL  ACTIVITY.  81 

presented  his  name  to  the  people  of  Detroit  as  that  of  "  a  man 
"  identified  with  its  improvements,  prominent  in  its  welfare,  and 
"  interested  in  its  prosperity,"  and  in  the  Whig  journals  he  was 
warmly  commended  as  "  known  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child 
"in  the  city  as  a  man  of  strict  integrity,  active  and  industrious 
"business  habits,  of  great  liberality  of  views,  both  in  person  and 
"  sentiment,  and  of  the  purest  moral  character ;  eminently  popular 
"and  affable  in  his  habits  of  intercourse  with  his  fellow- citizens, 
"his  extensive  business  operations  have  brought  him  in  daily 
"  contact  with  all,  through  a  long  course  of  years."  His  election 
was  also  urged  on  the  ground  that  he  was  the  only  candidate 
"  known  to  be  in  favor  of  extending  the  various  enterprises 
"of  sewerage,  pure  water,  pavements  and  sidewalks,  just  as 
"  fast  as  the  needs  of  a  young  city  shall  require,"  and  because 
his  "  course  in  his  own  business,  and  in  relation  to  the  public 
"interest,  has  been  an  energetic,  discreet  and  efficient  prose- 
"  cution  of  everything  upon  which  he  has  laid  his  hands." 
During  this  canvass  Mr.  Chandler  gave  wha,t  is  believed  to  be 
the  only  lecture  of  his  life,  and  its  marked  success  undoubtedly 
helped  him  at  the  ballot-box.  It  was  delivered  before  the  Young 
Men's  Society  upon  February  25,  1851,  its  theme  being  "The 
Element  of  Success  in  Character."  The  newspaper  report  of  it 
was  as  follows : 

The  theme  chosen  by  Mr.  Chandler.  "The  Element  of  Success  ^in 
Character,"  though  much  worn,  was  most  successfully  treated.  Intending 
only  to  discourse  from  his  own  observations  and  experience,  his  views  were 
as  philosophical  as  they  were  practical.  Therein  was  the  charm  and  takingness 
of  the  lecture.  Without  rhetorical  flourish  the  composition  was  excellent, 
severe  in  its  simplicity  and  directness,  nevertheless  abounding  in  beauty.  For 
originality,  aptness  of  quotation  and  illustration,  and  felicitous  use  of  lan 
guage,  it  ranks  with  the  choicest  productions  before  the  society.  In  his  own 
person  he  furnished  the  very  best  illustration  and  proof  of  success.  Such  a 
lecture  from  any  one  would  do  good,  but  how  much  greater  its  influence 
when  enforced  by  the  living  example  the  lecturer  himself  affords  of  the  truths 
of  his  teaching. 
6 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Mr.  Chandler  organized  his  first  political  battle  with  charac 
teristic  thoroughness  and  system,  visited  every  ward,  called  upon 
the  voters,  and  made  a  remarkable  personal  canvass.  The  result 
was  that  when  the  ballots  were  counted  it  was  found  that  he  had 
carried  every  precinct  in  Detroit  and  had  defeated  his  opponent 
by  349  majority  in  a  total  vote  of  less  than  3,500.  He  led  by 
nearly  400  the  average  vote  of  his  ticket,  and  the  Democrats 
elected  at  the  same  time  a  large  proportion  of  their  candidates. 
The  victory  was  celebrated  by  a  Whig  serenade,  at  which  the 
Mayor -elect  made  a  modest  and  brief  speech  of  thanks.  This 
manifestation  of  personal  strength  and  political  skill  at  once 
attracted  State  attention,  and  it  became  the  source  of  new  Whig 
hope. 

Mr.  Chandler's  term  as  Mayor  continued  for  one  year,  but 
was  devoid  of  especial  incident,  although  even  now  some 
interest  will  be  felt  in  this  official  letter  to  Kossuth,  which  the 
Hungarian  patriot  answered  with  a  note  of  regretful  declination : 

DETROIT,  January  10,  1852. 
To  his  Excellency  Louis  Kossuth: 

DEAH  Sin  :  By  resolution  of  the  Common  Council,  it  becomes  my  pleasing 
duty  to  invite  you  to  visit  the  city  of  Detroit  and  partake  of  its  hospitalities. 
Much  as  we  esteem  you  personally,  highly  as  we  appreciate  your  public  and 
private  worth,  it  is  not  to  these  alone  that  we  do  homage,  but  to  the  great 
principles  which  you  advocate.  We  hail  you  as  the  champion  of  republican 
ism  in  Europe,  as  God's  instrument  in  arousing  throughout  the  world  a  hatred 
of  despotism,  as  a  man  who  has  sacrificed  his  all,  and  offers  his  life  upon 
the  altar  of  liberty,  as  a  teacher  of  ''even  bayonets  to  think."  We,  sir,  have 
not  been  disinterested  spectators  of  your  glorious  struggle  for  Hungarian  inde 
pendence.  We  watched  with  most  intense  interest  the  commencement  and 
progress  of  that  sanguinary  conflict.  When  we  saw  the  people  rising  in 
their  might,  the  nobleman  and  citizen  vieing  writh  each  other  in  devotion  to 
their  country's  cause,  emulous  in  sufferings  and  sacrifices,  under  such  a 
leader,  we  felt  that  victory  must  crown  your  exertions  ;  and  when  we  saw  the 
elements  of  Despotism  uniting  to  crush  this  (to  them)  detested  spirit  of 
Freedom,  when  we  saw  the  temporary  triumphs  of  your  oppressors,  we  felt 
that  all  was  not  lost — that  the  Almighty  Ruler  of  the  Universe  would  neither 
leave  nor  forsake  you  in  your  low  estate,  that  the  days  of  despotism  were 
numbered. 


EARLY    POLITICAL    ACTIVITY.  83 

Again  would  I  invite  you  to  visit  Detroit  and  partake  of  its  hospitalities. 
Again  would  I  assure  you  of  our  deep  sympathy  for  your  down -trodden 
country,  and  I  hazard  nothing  by  the  assertion  that  that  sympathy  will  mani 
fest  itself  in  a  tangible  form.  Whether  our  government  will  act  in  your 
behalf  as  a  government,  is  not  for  me  to  say  ;  whether  it  would  be  proper 
for  it  to  do  so,  is  not  for  me  to  discuss  at  this  time.  But  that  you  have  the 
deep  sympathy  of  our  entire  population  is  manifest  to  all. 

With  great  respect,  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER, 

Mayor  of  the  City  of  Detroit. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Chandler's  term  as  Mayor  the 
Common  Council  of  Detroit,  by  unanimous  vote,  spread  upon  its 
records  this  resolution  : 

Resolved  by  the  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Detroit,  That  in  retiring  from 
the  office  of  chief  magistrate  of  this  city  the  Hon.  Zachariah  Chandler,  by  his 
urbanity,  fidelity  and  zeal  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties  for  the  past 
year,  merits  the  admiration  and  respect  of  the  Council,  and  that  in  retiring  to 
private  life  he  carries  with  him  our  cordial  wishes  for  his  happiness  and 
prosperity. 

In  November,  1852,  occurred  Michigan's  first  general  election 
under  the  constitution  of  1850.  The  Democratic  candidate  for 
Governor  was  Robert  McClelland,  who  had  already  held  that 
office  during  the  preceding  short  term.  General  Cass  alone 
surpassed  this  gentleman  in.  personal  strength  with  his  party  in 
the  State.  Mr.  McClelland  was  an  upright  and  able  man,  who 
had  served  with  distinction  in  Congress,  and  had  held  many 
important  offices  in  Michigan;  he  subsequently  became  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  in  the  cabinet  of  President  Pierce.  While  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  he  had  assisted  in 
drafting  the  original  Wilmot  Proviso,  but  he  had  grown  con 
servative  with  his  party,  and  in  1852  came  before  the  people  as 
a  warm  champion  of  the  compromises  of  1850.  Personally  he 
was  a  man  of  some  reserve,  but  affable  with  acquaintances  and 
respected  everywhere.  He  was  renominated  enthusiastically  and 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

with  every  prospect  of  an  easy  re-election.  With  the  single 
exception  of  William  Woodbridge,  who  was  borne  into  office  on 
the  Whig  tidal -wave  of  1839  and  1840,  Michigan  had  chosen  an 
unbroken  line  of  Democratic  Governors.  At  the  first  election 
after  its  admission  to  the  Union,  Stevens  T.  Mason  had  a 
majority  of  237  in  a  total  poll  of  22,299.  The  term  for  which 
Governor  Woodbridge  was  chosen  (he  resigned  to  take  a  seat  in 
the  Senate)  was  followed  by  six  successive  Democratic  victories. 
John  S.  Barry  was  elected  in  1841  with  5,326  majority  over  his 
Whig  competitor,  Philo  C.  Fuller,  and  two  years  later  lie 
defeated  Dr.  Zina  Pitcher  by  6,493  votes.  Alpheus  Felch  in 
1845  had  3,807  majority  over  Stephen  Yickery,  Whig,  and  in 
1847  Epaphroditus  Ransom  was  chosen  over  James  M.  Edmunds 
by  5,649  votes.  In  1849  John  S.  Barry  was  agai'n  elected, 
defeating  Flavins  J.  Littlejohn,  Whig  and  Free  Soiler,  by  4,297 
votes  in  a  total  poll  of  51,377.  In  1851,  which  was  the  last 
election  under  the  old  constitution,  Robert  McClelland  led 
Townsend  E.  Gidley  6,926  votes.  The  Liberty  party,  as  a 
distinct  organization,  also  existed  six  years  in  Michigan,  begin 
ning  in  1841  with  1,214  votes  and  ending  in  1847  with  2,585, 
Thus  from  1841  to  1852  not  only  did  the  Democrats  control 
Michigan  but  at  every  State  election  had  a  clear  majority  over 
all  shades  of  opposition. 

In  1852  the  chronic  difficulties  of  the  Whig  situation  in 
Michigan  were  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  the  Baltimore  coiv 
vention  which  nominated  Scott  and  Graham  had  condemned  that 
anti  -  slavery  sentiment  of  the  party,  which  gave  it  all  its  virility 
in  the  West.  The  greater  portion  of  the  Northern  Whigs  with 
Mr.  Greeley  supported  the  ticket  and  "  spat  upon  the  platform," 
but  some  of  them  abandoned  old  party  affiliations  and  joined 
the  Free  Soil  Democrats,  who  put  up  Hale  and  Julian  as  their 
national  candidates  and  in  Michigan  nominated  a  full  State 
ticket  headed  by  Isaac  P.  Christiancy.  The  Whig  State  conven- 


EARLY   POLITICAL   ACTIVITY.  o5 

tion  of  1852  met  at  Marshall  on  July  1,  and  was  called  to 
order  by  Henry  T.  Backus  as  chairman  of  the  State  Central 
Jonmiittee,  and  presided  over  by  Cyrus  Lovell  of  Ionia.  In 
the  preliminary  consultations  Mr.  Chandler's  was  the  name  chiefly 
urged  for  the  head  of  the  ticket,  on  account  of  his  acquaintance 
throughout  the  State  and  the  political  strength  and  capacity  he 
had  shown  as  a  candidate  in  Detroit.  This  is  an  extract  from 
the  official  record  of  the  convention : 

On  motion  of  W.  A.  Howard  of   Detroit  a  ballot  was  taken  for  Governor 
jflnd  \vas  announced  by  the  tellers  as  follows: 


Z.   Chandler, 76 

H.  G.  Wells, 7 

G.  A.  Coe,     .  2 


H.  R.  Williams, 1 

J.  R.  Williams, 1 

George  R.  Pomeroy,       ....      2 


On  motion  of  Mr.  DeLand  of  Jackson  a  formal  ballot  was  had  as  follows : 

Z.  Chandler 95  i    J.  R.  Williams 1 

H.  G.  Wells, 2  !    Blank, 1 

Mr.  Chandler  was  not  present  and  inquiry  was  made  if  it  was  known 
whether  he  would  accept  the  nomination.  Mr.  Wm.  A.  Howard  of  Detroit, 
chairman  of  the  delegation  from  that  city,  said  on  the  part  of  that  delegation 
that  he  had  seen  Mr.  Chandler  previous  to  leaving  Detroit,  and  Mr.  Chandler 
had  said  to  him  that  he  was  not  a  candidate  for  any  of  the  offices  under 
consideration,  that  he  preferred  working  in  the  ranks,  but  that  should  the 
convention  see  tit  to  nominate  him  he  was  with  them. 

The  result  was  hailed  with  hearty  cheering,  and  Mr.  Chand 
ler  soon  formally  accepted  this  nomination  and  commenced  a 
most  energetic  personal  canvass  of  the  State.  The  Temperance 
party  made  up  a  ticket  in  that  year  from  the  Democratic  and 
AVhig  candidates,  and  Mr.  Chandler  was  also  retained  as  its 
nominee  for  Governor,  but  this  action  was  without  practical 
importance  in  the  campaign  or  at  the  polls.  During  the  fall  of 
1852  the  Whig  nominee  for  Governor  labored  unremittingly. 
lie  visited  all  the  leading  towns  in  the  State,  and  spoke  con 
stantly  from  the  middle  of  September  until  the  week  before 
election.  The  list  of  his  appointments  included  Jonesville,  Cold- 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 


Abater,  Constantine,  Cassopolis,  Llowell,  Lansing,  Eaton  Rapids, 
Hastings,  Allegan,  Grand  Rapids,  Ionia,  DeWitt,  Corunna,  Flint, 
Saginaw,  Lapeer,  Almont,  Romeo,  Mt.  Clemens,  Ann  Arbor, 

Jackson,  Marshall,  Battle 
Creek,  St.  Glair,  and  De 
troit.  His  addresses  were 
vigorous,  entertaining  and 
telling,  and  while  he  neither 
then  nor  afterward  sought 
for  the  polished  sentence  or 
rounded  period,  he  showed 
that  capacity  for  plainness 
and  force  of  reasoning  and 
for  hard-hitting  which  ulti 
mately  made  his  oratory  so 
characteristic  and  effective. 
In  this  series  of  speeches 
he  dealt  largely  with  the 
national  questions  of  Pro 
tection  and  Internal  Im 
provements,  and  also  with 
the  business  aspects  of  the 
State  administration.  His 
friends  laid  especial  stress 
upon  his  strength  as  "  a 
"  business  man  of  energy, 
"  integrity  and  success,"  and 
urged  his  election  because 
he  bore  "  the  reputation, 
"  well  earned  by  a  long 
"  course  of  business  experi- 
"  ence,  of  being  a  keen  and 
"  shrewd  business  man  of 


Temperance  Ticket. 

For  Governor, 
Zachariah  Chandler. 
For  Lieut.  Governor, 

Andrew  Parsons. 

For  Secretary  of  State, 

George  E.   Pomeroy. 

For  State  Treasurer, 

Bernard  C.   Whittemore. 

For  Auditor  General, 

Whitney  Jones. 
For  Attorney  General, 

Nathaniel  Bacon. 
For  Sun't  of  Pub.  Instruction, 

U.  Tracy  Howe. 
For  Com'r  of  State  Land  Office, 

Na'han  Power. 

For  State  Board  of  Education. 

Isaac  E.  Crary,  for  the  term  of  six  years. 

Grove  Spencer,  for  the  term  of  four  years. 

Chauncey  Joslin,  for  a  term  of  two  years. 

For  Member  of  Congress  ist  District, 

William  A.   Howard. 
For  Member  of  Senate. 

For  Representative, 

For  Sheriff, 
Henry  B.  Holbrook. 

For  Clerk. 

Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer. 

For  Prosecuting  Attorney. 

D.  Bethune  Duffield. 

For  Judge  of  Probate, 

Rufus  Hosmer. 

Circuit  Court  Commissioner, 

John  S.    Newberry. 

For  Register, 
Robert  E.    Roberts. 

FAC- SIMILE  OF  ONE  OP  THE  STATE  TICKETS  OP 
M.CIIIGAN  IN  1852. 


EARLY    POLITICAL    ACTIVITY.  87 

"  the  highest  moral  tone,"  and  because  he  was  "  endowed  with 
remarkable  business  talent,"  and  had  been  "identified  with  the 
growth  and  interests  of  the  State."  Mr.  Chandler  was  also 
helped  in  this  contest  by  his  mercantile  friendships  throughout 
Michigan,  and  by  the  natural  pleasure  with  which  his  fellow 
merchants  saw  one  of  their  own  guild  fighting  his  way  to  politi 
cal  distinction  along  the  paths  so  largely  occupied  by  men  of 
professional  callings.  As  part  of  the  organization  of  this  canvass 
he  mailed  large  quantities  of  gummed  "  slips "  bearing  his  name 
to  acquaintances  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  this  is  believed  to 
be  the  first  instance  in  which  this  now  common  weapon  of 
political  warfare  was  used  in  the  Northwest.  The  Democrats 
found  themselves  compelled  by  this  unprecedentedly  vigorous 
attack  to  put  forth  most  strenuous  efforts,  and  General  Cass 
labored  assiduously  to  prevent  the  loss  of  his  own  State.  So 
pronounced  did  the  opposition  of  the  veteran  Democratic  leader 
to  the  head  of  the  Whig  ticket  become,  that  Mr.  Chandler 
laughingly  said  to  friends  by  way  of  comment  upon  it,  "  I  am 
"  afraid  that  it  will  take  General  Cass's  Senatorial  seat  to  balance 
"  the  account  between  us." 

But  the  national  tide  was  then  overwhelmingly  against  the 
Whigs,  and  Southern  distrust  of  General  Scott  and  Northern 
wrath  at  the  circumstances  of  his  nomination  brought  that  party 
to  the  Waterloo  defeat  from  which  it  never  recovered.  Michi- 
igan  cast  41,842  votes  for  Pierce,  33,859  for  Scott,  and  7,237 
for  Hale.  Mr.  Chandler  received  34,660  votes  for  Governor 
against  42,798  for  McClelland,  and  5,850  for  Christiancy.  He 
thus  received  801  more  votes  than  Scott ;  he  also  led  the  entire 
Whig  State  ticket  by  from  500  to  4,000  votes,  and  received 
over  11,000  more  votes  than  had  ever  been  given  to  any  Whig 
candidate  for  Governor.  He  had  made  a  resolute  fight,  and 
again  strikingly  manifested  his  personal  strength  with  the  people 
and  his  political  ability. 


88 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 


In  the  Michigan  Legislature  of  1853,  which  was  chosen  at 
the  same  State  election,  the  Democrats  had  a  majority  on  joint 
ballot  of  forty -eight,  and  the  Whig  minority  included  but  seven 
Senators  and  twenty -one  Representatives.  The  term  of  Alpheus 
Felch  as  United  States  Senator  expired  on  March  3,  1853,  and 
Charles  E.  Stuart  was  chosen  as  his  successor.  The  Whigs 
gave  expression  to  their  high  estimate  of  the  value  of  Mr. 
Chandler's  services  in  the  preceding  campaign  by  complimenting 
him  with  their  united  vote  for  the  Senate,  and  the  footings  of 
the  Legislative  ballot  for  that  office  were : 


SENATE. 

C.  E.   Stuart, . 
Z.  Chandler, 


27 
7 


HOUSE. 

C.  E.   Stuart,  . 
Z.  Chandler, 
II.  K.  Clarke, 


49 

21 

1 


This  was  the  last  important  political  action  of  the  Whig  party 
of  Michigan.  Before  another  State  election  its  formal  dissolution 
had  been  pronounced,  and  the  great  body  of  its  members  had 
gathered  around  the  cradle  of  infant  Republicanism. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  FORMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY. 

HE  darkest  hour  for  the  anti- slavery  cause  preceded 
the  dawn,  of  185-i.  The  compromises  of  1850  had  closed 
that  long  series  of  so-called  bargains,  by  which  the  South 
had  forced  surrender  after  surrender  from  the  IS'orth  in 
the  vain  hope  of  preserving  by  such  artificial  devices  its  tradi 
tional  preponderance  in  the  government,  so  constantly  threatened 
by  the  rapid  development  of  the  free  States  and  the  marvelous 
settlement  of  free  territory.  Behind  the  Louisiana  purchase  from 
Bonaparte  was  slavery's  demand  for  new  States  to  re-inforce  its 
political  strength.  Florida  was  bought  from  Spain  for  the  same 
reasons.  The  Missouri  compromise  of  1820  involved  the  admis 
sion  of  a  new  slave  State  to  the  Union,  and  the  organization  of 
Arkansas  as  a  slave  territory  ;  it  was  the  work  of  the  advocates 
of  slavery  extension,  and  was  practically  a  surrender  of  free  ter 
ritory  to  bondage,  the  only  consideration  being  the  exclusion  of 
slavery  from  soil  on  which  (judging  from  all  the  experience 
of  American  settlement  up  to  that  time )  it  could  not  be  estab 
lished  nor  maintained.  The  annexation  of  Texas  had  been  forced 
to  add  to  the  Union  an  enormous  expanse  of  slave  territory, 
capable,  it  was  hoped,  of  early  division  into  several  slave  States. 
The  Mexican  War  was  a  peculiarly  Southern  scheme,  having  as 
its  real  aim  the  conquest  of  an  empire  which  was  to  include 
human  bondage  among  its  established  institutions.  The  futile 
plans  for  the  annexation  of  Cuba  came  from  the  same  prolific 
source,  and  were  inspired  by  the  same  need  of  forcing  the 
expansion  of  the  political  power  of  the  slave  South  to  prevent 


90  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

its  being  outstripped  by  the  magnificent  growth  of  the  free 
North.  But  the  forces  of  nature  prove  more  potent  than  human 
devices,  and  the  last  speech  of  John  C.  Calhoun.  (read  for  him 
in  the  Senate  on  March  4,  1850,)  showed  how  clearly  this  fact 
had  impressed  itself  on  the  ablest  and  acutest  of  the  Southern 
statesmen.  That  farewell  address  sketched  minutely  the  history 
and  condition  of  the  steadily  -  growing  disparity  between  the 
North  and  the  South,  declared  in  effect  that  the  South  with  its 
institutions  could  not  permit  Northern  ascendancy,  demanded 
from  the.  North  constitutional  amendments  "  which  would  restore 
"to  the  South  in  substance  the  power  she  possessed  of  protect 
ing  herself  before  the  equilibrium  between  the  sections  was 
"destroyed,"  added  that  on  no  other  basis  could  the  South  safe'y 
remain  in  the  Union,  and  said  that,  if  this  demand  was  refused, 
"  we  would  be  blind  not  to  perceive  that  your  real  objects  are 
"  power  and  aggrandizement,  and  infatuated  not  to  act  accord- 
"  ingly."  To  this  candid  avowal  of  the  Southern  programme  ( ten 
years  later  it  became  evident  that  Mr.  Calhoun  had  stated  then 
the  slave  power's  ultimatum)  the  answrer  was  the  final  surrender 
of  1850.  The  compromise  measures  of  that  year  pledged  the 
United  States  to  the  subdivision  of  Texas  into  new  (slave) 
States,  organized  Utah  and  New  Mexico  without  any  prohibition 
of  slavery  within  their  boundaries,  forbade  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  set  the  odious  machinery 
of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law  in  operation  throughout  the  North. 
The  consideration  Freedom  received  for  these  concessions  was  the 
admission  of  California  to  the  Union  (it  was  evident  that  noth 
ing  but  invasion  and  conquest  could  ever  make  it  a  slave  State) 
and  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
amounting  to  a  removal  of  the  auction  blocks  of  slave  dealers 
from  the  shadow  of  the  Capitol  to  the  narrow  streets  of  decay 
ing  Alexandria. 

The  opiate  of    compromise  sufficed  to  keep  still  dormant  the 
conscience    of   the    North,  and    the    national    acquiescence  in   this 


"UNDER    THE    OAKS."  91 

adjustment  was  emphatic.  The  Whig  and  the  Democratic  parties 
in  1852  both  formally  accepted  in  their  platforms  the  legislation 
of  1850  as  a  decisive  and  just  settlement  of  the  slavery  question, 
and  they  polled  almost  3,000,000  votes,  while  for  the  Free  Soil 
ticket,  representing  hostility  to  slavery  extension  and  to  pro- 
slavery  compromises,  but  155,000  votes  were  cast.  The  victory 
of  the  Democrats,  who  embodied  in  much  the  fullest  degree  the 
spirit  of  concession  to  Southern  demands,  was  an  overwhelm 
ing  one.  They  carried  27  out  of  the  31  States,  and  had  254 
electoral  votes  out  of  296,  with  a  clear  pop  alar  majority  over 
the  entire  opposition.  In  the  Senate  they  had  14  majority  out 
of  a  membership  of  62,  and  in  the  House  a  majority  of  84  in 
a  total  membership  of  234.  The  condition  of  public  sentiment 
then  is  thus  described  by  the  most  accurate  and  graphic  historian 
of  that  era: 

Whatever  theoretic  or  practical  objections  may  be  justly  made  to  the 
compromise  of  1850,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  accepted  and  ratified 
by  a  great  majority  of  the  American  people,  whether  in  the  North  or  in  the 
South.  They  were  intent  on  business  —  then  remarkably  prosperous  —  on  plant 
ing,  building,  trading  and  getting  gain  —  and  they  hailed  with  general  joy  the 
announcement  that  all  the  differences  between  the  diverse  "sections"  had  been 
adjusted  and  settled.  The  terms  of  settlement  were,  to  that  majority,  of  quite 
subordinate  consequence;  they  wanted  peace  and  prosperity,  and  were  no  wise 
inclined  to  cut  each  other's  throats  and  burn  each  other's  houses  in  a  quarrel 
concerning  (as  they  regarded  it)  only  the  status  of  negroes.  The  compromise 
had  taken  no  money  from  their  pockets  ;  it  had  imposed  upon  them  no  pecun 
iary  burdens  ;  it  had  exposed  them  to  no  personal  and  palpable  dangers  ;  it 
had  rather  repelled  the  gaunt  spectre  of  civil  war  and  disunion  (habitually 
conjured  up  when  slavery  had  a  point  to  carry),  and  increased  the  facilities 
for  making  money,  while  opening  a  boundless  vista  of  national  greatness, 
security  and  internal  harmony.  Especially  by  the  trading  class,  and  the  great 
majority  of  the  dwellers  in  seaboard  cities,  was  this  view  cherished  with 
intense,  intolerant  vehemence.  .  .  .  Whatever  else  the  election  of  1852  might 
have  meant,  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  popular  verdict  was  against  "slavery 
agitation  "  and  in  favor  of  maintaining  the  compromises  of  1850.  .  .  .  The 
finances  were  healthy  and  the  public  credit  unimpaired.  Industry  and  trade 
were  signally  prosperous.  The  tariff  had  ceased  to  be  a  theme  of  parti 
san  or  sectional  strife.  The  immense  yield  of  gold  in  California  during  the 


92  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

four  preceding  years  had  stimulated  enterprise  and  quickened  the  energies  of 
labor,  and  its  volume  as  yet  showed  no  signs  of  diminution.  And  though  the 
Fugitive  Slave  law  was  still  denounced,  and  occasionally  resisted  by  aboli 
tionists  in  the  free  States,  while  disunionists  still  plotted  in  secret  and  more 
'openly  prepared  in  Southern  commercial  conventions  (having  for  their  ostensi 
ble  object  the  establishment  of  a  general  exchange  of  the  great  Southern 
staples  directly  from  their  own  harbors  with  the  principal  European  marts, 
instead  of  circuitously  by  way  of  New  York  and  other  Northern  Atlantic 
ports)  there  was  still  a  goodly  majority  in  the  South,  wTith  a  still  larger  in 
the  North  and  Northwest,  in  favor  of  maintaining  the  Union  and  preserving 
the  greatest  practical  measure  of  cordiality  and  fraternity  between  the  free 
and  slave  States,  substantially  on  the  basis  of  the  compromise  of  1850. 

This  was  the  blackest  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  agitation 
for  Freedom  on  this  continent.  The  era  seemed  to  have  been 
at  last  reached  of  national  surrender  to  slavery's  demands,  and 
of  the  purchase  of  peace  by  the  abandonment  of  (with  the 
promise  never  to  resume )  resistance  to  "  the  sum  of  all  vil 
lainies."  John  Quincy  Adams  had  said  that  up  to  his  day  "  the 
preservation,  propagation,  and  perpetuation  of  slavery "  had  ever 
been  "the  animating  spirit"  of  the  American  government. 
Daniel  Webster  had  bitterly  declared  in  1848  that  there  was  no 
Xorth  in  American  politics,  and  that  the  South  absolutely  con 
trolled  the  government.  Certainly,  in  1853,  the  surface  of  the 
political  situation  fully  justified  the  indignant  words  of  Gen-it 
Smith :  "  Were  this  government  despotic  and  her  religion 
"heathen,  there  might  be  some  hope  of  republicanizing  her 
"  politics  and  Christianizing  her  religion  ;  but  now  that  she  has 
"turned  into  darkness  the  greatest  of  all  political  lights  and  the 
"greatest  of  all  religious  lights,  what  hope  is  left  for  her?" 

It  was  at  this  juncture,  when  its  triumph  appeared  to  be 
complete,  that  slavery  fatally  overreached  itself.  The  Missouri 
compromise  of  1820,  which  forever  prohibited  slavery  in  all  of 
the  original  Louisiana  territory  north  of  30  degrees,  30  minutes 
of  north  latitude,  had  remained  unquestioned  upon  the  statute 
books  for  a  generation.  The  South  had  received  the  full  bene- 


"UNDER    THE    OAKS."  93 

fits  of  its  share  of  that  bargain,  which  added  Arkansas  and 
Missouri  to  the  ranks  of  the  slave  States.  In  the  interminable 
discussions  of  1850  there  had  been  no  suggestion  that  the  com 
promise  measures  of  that  year  were  intended  to  either  disturb  or 
supersede  the  Missouri  compact,  and  the  first  message  of  Frank 
lin  Pierce  congratulated  the  country  on  the  sense  of  repose  and 
security  in  the  public  mind  which  the  compromise  measures  had 
restored,  and  added  the  pledge,  "this  repose  is  to  suffer  no 
shock  during  my  official  term,  if  I  have  power  to  avert  it." 
Before  two  months  had  elapsed,  the  North  heard  with  astonish 
ment  and  indignation  the  doctrine  laid  down  in  Congress  by  the 
representatives  of  the  slave  power  that  the  Missouri  compromise 
had  been  abrogated  by  the  measures  of  1850,  and  that  the  vast 
domain  between  the  Missouri  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  rich  in 
all  material  and  political  possibilities,  was  open  to  slaveholding 
settlement.  A  few  days  more  passed,  and  it  was  discovered  that 
this  claim  was  receiving  the  powerful  support  of  the  adminis 
tration,  and  that  it  would  also  be  championed  by  Stephen  A 
Douglas,  with  his  formidable  energy,  personal  influence,  and  rare 
skill  in  debate,  as  a  step  towards  the  vindication  of  his  dogma 
of  "Popular  Sovereignty.'1  Of  the  memorable  four  months' 
struggle  over  this  issue,  the  following  is  a  sketch  in  outline: 

Soon  after  the  Thirty -third  Congress  assembled,  in  Decem 
ber,  1853,  Senator  A.  C.  Dodge,  of  Iowa,  introduced  a  bill  to 
organize  the  Territory  of  Nebraska  out  of  the  magnificent  region 
between  Missouri  and  Iowa  and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Territories,  and  was  reported  back 
by  Senator  Douglas  with  amendments,  none  of  which,  however, 
proposed  to  repeal  the  prohibition  of  slavery  included  in  the 
Missouri  compromise.  Upon  this,  Senator  Archibald  Dixon,  of 
Kentucky,  a  Whig  who  declared  that  on  the  question  of  slavery 
he  knew  no  Whiggery  and  no  Democracy,  but  was  a  pro-slavery 
man,  gave  notice  that  he  should  offer  an  amendment,  providing 


94  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

that  the  act  of  1820  should  not  be  so  construed  as  to  apply  to 
the  territory  contemplated  by  this  act,  nor  to  any  other  territory 
of  the  United  States.  Senator  Douglas  thereupon  had  the  bill 
recommitted,  and  subsequently  reported  in  an  entirely  different 
form,  creating  two  territories,  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  instead  of 
one,  and  including  the  provision  that  all  questions  pertaining  to 
slavery  in  the  territories  and  in  the  new  States  to  be  formed 
therefrom  should  be  left  to  the  action  of  the  people  thereof 
through  their  appropriate  representatives,  and  that  the  provisions 
of  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  in  respect  to 
fugitives  from  service  should  be  carried  into  faithful  execution 
in  all  the  organized  territories  the  same  as  in  the  States.  This 
wras,  equally  with  Senator  Dixon's  proposition,  a  direct  violation 
of  the  provision  of  the  Missouri  compromise,  which  was  in  these 
words  ( Section  8 ) :  "  That  in  all  that  territory  ceded  by  France 
"  to  the  United  States  under  the  name  of  Louisiana,  which  lies 
"north  of  36  degrees  and  30  minutes  of  north  latitude,  not 
"included  within  the  limits  of  the  State  contemplated  by  this 
"act,  slavery  and  involuntary  servitude,  otherwise  than  as  the 
"punishment  of  crime,  shall  be  and  is  hereby  forever  pro 
hibited."  In  the  last  report,  however,  the  pill  was  sugar-coated 
with  Mr.  Douglas's  catch -word  of  "Popular  Sovereignty." 

The  territory  which  the  Kansas  -  Nebraska  bill  was  intended 
to  organize  was  included  in  this  quoted  prohibition.  That  bill 
as  introduced,  in  the  section  that  provided  for  the  election  of  a 
delegate  to  Congress  from  Kansas,  had  the  stipulation : 

That  the  constitution  and  all  laws  of  the  United  States,  which  arc  not 
locally  inapplicable,  shall  have  the  same  force  and  effect  within  said  territory 
as  elsewhere  in  the  United  States. 

To  this  the  amended  bill  added  the  following  reservation : 

Except  the  section  of  the  act  preparatory  to  the  admission  of  Missouri 
into  the  Union,  approved  March  6,  1820,  which  was  superseded  by  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  legislation  of  1850,  commonly  called  the  compromise  measure, 
and  is  declared  inoperative. 


"UNDER   THE   OAKS."  95 

A  similar  provision  with  a  like  reservation  was  added  to  the 
section  providing  for  the  election  of  a  delegate  from  Nebraska. 
A  prolonged  and  brilliant  debate  followed  in  the  Senate,  and 
finally  in  place  of  the  original  reservation  the  following  was 
adopted,  on  motion  of  Senator  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  by  a  vote 
of  35  to  10: 

Except  the  section  of  the  act  preparatory  to  the  admission  of  Missouri 
into  the  Union,  approved  March  6,  1820,  which,  being  inconsistent  with  the 
principle  of  non-intervention  by  Congress  with  slavery  in  the  States  and 
territories,  as  recognized  by  the  legislation  in  1850  (commonly  called  the  coin- 
promise  measure),  is  hereby  declared  inoperative  and  void,  it  being  the  true 
intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any  territory  or 
State,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly 
free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject 
only  to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Senator  Chase  then  moved  to  add  to  the  above  the  following: 

Under  which  the  people  of  the  territory,  through  their  appropriate  repre 
sentatives,  may,  if  they  see  fit,  prohibit  the  existence  of  slavery  therein. 

This  amendment  was  voted  down,  yeas  10,  nays  36,  the  Senate 
thus  declaring  its  understanding  that  the  people  of  the  new  terri 
tories  should  not  be  allowed  to  prohibit  slavery  previous  to  their 
admission  as  a  State.  The  bill  passed  on  the  morning  of  March 
4th,  by  a  vote  of  37  to  14.  In  the  House  a  separate  bill  had 
been  introduced,  but  when  it  came  up  for  consideration  the 
Senate  bill  was  substituted  for  it  —  by  a  parliamentary  trick  its 
opponents  were  prevented  from  oifering  amendments  —  and  the 
bill  was  passed,  yeas  113,  nays  100.  It  went  back  to  the  Senate, 
in  form  as  an  original  measure,  but  in  effect  the  Senate  bill,  and 
on  May  26  was  finally  passed  by  that  body  and  was  approved 
by  President  Pierce  on  May  30.  The  debate  had  been  a  memor 
able  one  ;  for  the  friends  of  Liberty,  while  they  resisted  to  the 
last  the  surrender  of  what  had  been  once  bought  for  Freedom, 
joyfully  recognized  the  fact  that  this  act  would  in  its  logic  make 
every  compromise  repealable,  and  thus  kill  in  the  womb  all 
future  political  bargainings.  Benjamin  F.  Wade  said  in  the 


6  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Senate  that  "the  violation  of  the  plighted  faith  of  the  nation 
"  would  precipitate  a  conflict  between  liberty  and  slavery ;  and 
"  that,  in  such  a  conflict,  it  will  not  be  liberty  that  will  die  in 
"  the  nineteenth  century.  You  may  call  me  an  Abolitionist  if 
"  you  will ;  I  care  little  for  that,  for  if  an  undying  hatred  to 
"  slavery  constitutes  an  Abolitionist,  I  am  that  Abolitionist.  If 
"  man's  determination  at  all  times  and  at  all  hazards,  to  the  last 
"  extremity,  to  resist  the  extension  of  slavery,  or  any  other 
"  tyranny,  constitutes  an  Abolitionist,  I  before  God  believe  my- 
"  self  to  be  that  Abolitionist."  William  II.  Seward  said  :  "  You 
"  are  setting  an  example  which  abrogates  all  compromises.  .  .  . 
"  It  has  been  no  proposition  of  mine  to  abrogate  them  now ; 
"  but  the  proposition  has  come  from  another  quarter  —  from  an 
"  adverse  one.  It  is  about  to  prevail.  The  shifting  sands  of 
"  compromise  are  passing  from  under  my  feet,  and  they  are 
"  now,  without  agency  of  my  own,  taking  hold  again  on  the 
'<  rock  of  the  constitution.  It  shall  be  no  fault  of  mine  if  they 
"  do  not  remain  firm."  Charles  Sunnier  closed  his  protest  against 
this  removal  of  "  the  landmarks  of  freedom "  by  declaring  the 
measure  to  be  "  at  once  the  worst  and  best  bill  on  which  Con- 
"  gress  ever  acted  —  the  worst  inasmuch  as  it  is  a  present  victory 
"  for  slavery,  and  the  best  bill  because  it  prepares  the  way  for 
"  the  '  All  hail  hereafter,'  wThen  slavery  must  disappear.  Sorrow- 
"  fully  I  bend  before  the  wrong  you  are  about  to  perpetrate. 
"  Joyfully  I  welcome  all  the  promises  of  the  future." 

The  response  of  the  ^Nbrth  to  the  abrogation  of  the  Missouri 
compromise  justified  these  predictions.  To  this  overthrow  of  a 
solemn  compact  for  the  purpose  of  opening  a  vast  empire  to 
attempts  at  slave  colonization,  men  of  every  shade  of  anti- slavery 
conviction  made  answer  by  eagerly  seeking  ways  of  uniting  in 
effective  resistance  to  such  a  crime  against  civilization.  Amid  an 
excitement,  which  grew  profounder  as  the  contest  progressed,  and 
which  was  fed  by  the  press,  the  pulpit,  and  the  lyceum,  and  was 


"UNDER   THE    OAKS."  97 

organized  by  public  meetings,  the  demand  became  daily  stronger 
for  political  action  on  the  basis  of  uncompromising  hostility  to 
the  aggressions  of  the  slave  power.  Before  the  Kansas  -  Nebraska 
controversy  was  finished  the  Whig  party  had  ceased  to  exist,  the 
Democracy  had  become  a  pro -slavery  organization,  the  era  of 
compromise  had  passed  away,  and  the  young  giant  of  Republi 
canism  stood  on  the  threshold  of  the  territories  commanding 
slavery  to  stand  back.  This  vast  and  far-reaching  political 
revolution  was  accomplished  through  the  wholesale  sacrifice  of 
cherished  ties  by  the  friends  of  free  institutions  and  through 
their  hearty  union  in  the  new  party  of  Freedom.  The  State  in 
which  this  fusion  of  anti- slavery  opinion  into  Republicanism 
was  first  accomplished  was  Michigan,  and  the  Republican  party 
as  a  distinct  organization  was  born  and  christened  under  the  oaks 
of  Jackson  on  the  6th  of  July,  1851.  Political  opinion  in  that 
State  was  peculiarly  ripe  for  this  step.  Its  Whigs  were  with  but 
rare  exceptions  staunch  anti -slavery  men.  Even  Senator  Cass's 
great  influence  had  failed  to  keep  all  the  Democrats  submissive 
to  pro -slavery  compromises.  The  Free  Boilers  were  strong  in 
character  and  several  thousands  in  number.  Thus  when  the 
opportunity  came  for  decisive  action  it  found  the  men  ready. 

The  Free  Democrats  of  Michigan,  encouraged  by  the  increase 
in  their  vote  in  1852,  and  responding  to  an  appeal  of  the  "  In 
dependent  Democrats  in  Congress"  (signed  by  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
Charles  Sumner,  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  Gerrit  Smith,  Edward  Wade, 
and  Alexander  De  Witt)  for  popular  resistance  to  the  attack  on 
the  Missouri  compact,  held  the  first  political  convention  of  1854 
in  that  State.  It  met  in  Jackson,  on  February  22d,  under  a  call 
issued  at  Detroit  on  January  12,  and  signed  by  IT.  Tracy  Howe, 
Hovey  K.  Clarke,  Samuel  Zng,  Silas  M.  Holmes,  S.  A.  Baker, 
S.  B.  Thayer,  S.  P.  Mead,  J.  W.  Childs,  and  Erastus  Hussey, 
forming  the  state  central  committee  of  that  party.  The  con 
vention  was  called  to  order  by  Hovey  K.  Clarke,  and  it  organized 
7 


98  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

with  Win.  T.  Howell  of  Hillsdale  as  president.  The  committee 
on  resolutions  consisted  of  Hovey  K.  Clarke,  Fernando  C.  Beaman, 
Kinsley  S.  Bingharn,  E.  Hussey,  Nathan  Power,  D.  C.  Leach, 
and  L.  Moore,  and  a  committee  of  twenty -four  was  appointed  to 
nominate  a  State  ticket.  The  committee  on  resolutions  reported 
a  platform  prepared  by  Hovey  K.  Clarke,  declaring  freedom 
national  and  slavery  sectional,  and  denouncing  the  attempt  to 
repeal  the  Missouri  compromise  as  an  infamous  outrage  upon 
justice,  humanity  and  good  faith.  The  nominating  committee 
submitted  this  list  of  candidates  for  the  State  offices  : 

Governor — Kinsley  S.  Bingham. 

Lieutenant  -  Governor  —  Nathan  Pierce. 

Secretary  of  State  —  Lovell  Moore. 

State  Treasurer — Silas  M.  Holmes. 

Auditor  -  General  —  Philotus   Hayden. 

Attorney  -  General  —  Hovey   K.    Clarke. 

Commissioner  of  Land  Office  —  Seymour  B.  Treadwell. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  —  Elijah  H.  Pilcher. 

Member  of  Board  of  Education  —  Isaac  P.   Christiancy. 

Kinsley  S.  Bingham  was  a  pioneer  farmer  of  Central  Michi 
gan,  one  of  the  very  best  representatives  of  his  influential  class, 
and  a  man  of  sterling  sense,  strong  convictions,  and  excellent 
abilities.  He  had  served  with  honor  in  the  State  Legislature, 
and  had  as  a  Democratic  Congressman  sustained  alone  in  his 
State  delegation  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  His  nomination  was  in 
itself  the  strongest  possible  appeal  to  the  anti- slavery  Democrats 
of  the  State.  The  ticket  also  had  upon  it  the  names  of  gentle 
men  who  had  in  the  past  acted  with  the  Whigs.  The  conven 
tion  ratified  the  reports  of  its  committees,  and  after  listening  to 
a  few  speeches  adjourned.  It  was  a  significant  fact  that  two 
of  the  speakers  were  conspicuous  Whigs,  Henry  Barns  of  the 
Detroit  Tribune,  and  Halmer  II.  Emmons ;  Mr.  Emmons  was 
especially  emphatic  in  his  expression  of  the  hope  that  before  the 


"UNDER   THE    OAKS."  99 

day  of  election  "  all  the  friends  of  freedom  would  be  able  to 
"  stand  upon  a  common  platform  against  the  party  and  platform 
"  of  the  slave  propagandists." 

Cotemporaneously  with  this  organized  action  of  the  Free 
Soilers,  but  outside  of  it  and  of  all  party  lines,  there  were  held 
many  public  meetings  throughout  Michigan  to  denounce  the 
Kansas  -  Nebraska  act.  Some  of  these  were  county  conventions 
in  form,  and  others  were  local  mass  -  meetings.  One  of  the  latter 
took  place  at  Detroit  on  the  18th  of  February;  Zachariah  Chand 
ler  was  among  the  many  prominent  citizens  who  signed  its  call, 
and  was  one  of  the  five  speakers  from  its  platform  ( the  others 
were  Jonathan  Kearsley,  Samuel  Barstow,  James  A.  Yan  Dyke, 
and  D.  Bethune  Dufneld).  The  tone  of  all  the  speeches  was 
wholesomely  defiant,  and  this  was  also  true  of  the  resolutions 
adopted  which  were  reported  by  a  committee  consisting  of 
Samuel  Barstow,  Jacob  M.  Howard,  Joseph  Warren,  James  M. 
Edmunds,  and  Henry  H.  Le  Roy.  The  effect  of  this  demonstra 
tion  in  the  metropolis  of  the  State  upon  public  opinion  was 
marked,  and  it  and  like  non-partisan  action  did  much  to  pave 
the  way  for  the  fusion  of  July.  Powerful  contributions  to  the 
same  movement  came  also  from  the  strong  and  growing  current 
of  sentiment  in  that  direction  throughout  the  entire  North,  and 
from  the  significant  results  of  many  of  the  spring  elections. 
Both  New  Hampshire  and  Connecticut  elected  an ti  -  administra 
tion  candidates  in  March  and  April,  and  in  Michigan  anti- slavery 
coalitions  were  successful  in  quite  a  number  of  municipal  con 
tests,  notably  in  the  important  city  of  Grand  Rapids  which  chose 
Wilder  D.  Foster  mayor  on  that  issue. 

Throughout  the  spring  of  1854  many  private  conferences 
(Mr.  Chandler  sharing  in  them)  were  held  in  Michigan  among 
representative  men  of  the  Whigs,  Free  Soilero,  and  Anti- 
Nebraska  Democrats  to  discuss  the  feasibility  of  union  and 
consider  plans  for  its  accomplishment.  The  early  action  of  the 


100  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER 

Free  Soilers  was  in  fact  a  practical  obstacle  in  the  way.  That 
party  represented  but  a  small  element  of  the  anti  -  slavery  sen 
timent  of  Michigan,  and  neither  the  sincerity  of  its  purpose,  nor 
its  tender  of  the  olive  branch  by  placing  Whig  names  on  its 
State  ticket,  nor  the  soundness  of  its  platform  on  the  slavery 
question  could  counterbalance  the  many  reasons  why  the  Whigs 
would  not  surrender  a  time  -  honored  organization  and  march 
bodily  into  the  camp  of  what  they  had  always  regarded  as  a 
faction  of  impracticables.  There  was  also  much  in  the  State 
situation  to  encourage  Whig  hope,  for  the  party  there  was 
almost  solidly  anti -slavery  and  certain  to  profit  by  the  weaken 
ing  of  the  enemv  through  the  revolt  of  the  Anti  -  Nebraska 

O  «/  o 

Democrats.  But  there  was  a  vigor  of  principle  and  an  intelli 
gence  of  sentiment  in  the  "Whig  party  of  Michigan  which 
encouraged  the  belief  that  it  would  not  subordinate  essentials  to 
a  name,  and  that  it  would  assent  to  an  anti  -  slavery  union  under 
conditions  not  involving  any  seeming  self  -  degradation.  In  fact 
it  was  called  upon  to  make  the  only  real  sacrifice  involved  in 
the  desired  coalition.  The  Free  Soilers  were  powerless,  and  had 
nothing  to  lose  and  everything  to  gain  in  the  new  movement; 
the  Anti  -  Nebraska  Democrats  were  condemned  by,  and  without 
influence  in,  their  own  party ;  but  the  Whigs  were  strong  in 
numbers,  and  were  asked  to  surrender  a  historic  name,  honorable 
traditions  and  reviving  hope  for  a  doubtful  experiment.  But 
that  the  hour  demanded  precisely  this  act  of  self-denial  was 
clear,  and  men  of  resolution  and  principle  grappled  with  the 
problem  of  making  it  possible.  Altogether  the  most  important 
work  in  that  direction  was  done  by  Joseph  Warren,  editor  of 
the  Detroit  Tribune,  then  an  influential  Whig  paper,  which 
began  the  publication  in  its  columns  of  a  series  of  vigorous  and 
well-considered  articles  advocating  the  organization  of  a  new 
party  composed  of  all  the  opponents  of  slavery  extension.  Tins 
policy  accorded  with  the  drift  of  public  opinion,  and,  involving 


"UNDER   THE    OAKS."  101' 

as  it  did  the  disbanding  of  both  the  Whig  and  Free  Soil  organ 
izations,  avoided  any  appearance  of  surrender  and  humiliation. 
Public  and  private  discussion  made  its  wisdom  plainer,  and  the 
proof  of  its  feasibility  was  followed  by  steps  for  its  accomplish 
ment.  An  indispensable  preliminary  was  the  withdrawal  of  the 
"Free  Democrat"  ticket,  as  this  would  remove  the  chief  stum 
bling-block  in  the  path  of  the  aiiti  -  slavery  Whigs.  Mr.  Warren, 
whose  personal  labors  at  this  juncture  were  of  the  utmost  value, 
writes  with  reference  to  the  spirit  with  which  the  Free  Soil 
leaders  met  the  demand  for  this  step  : 

One  of  the  first  and  chiefest  obstacles  to  be  overcome  in  order  to  ensure 
the  co  -  operation  of  all  the  opponents  of  slavery  extension  in  the  movement 
looking  to  the  organization  of  a  new  party,  was  to  induce  the  Free  Soilers 
to  consent  to  the  withdrawal  of  their  ticket  from  the  field,  thus  placing 
themselves  on  the  same  footing  as  the  Whigs  ( who  as  yet  had  made  no 
nominations),  free  from  all  entangling  alliances  and  in  a  position  to  act  in  a 
way  likely  to  prove  most  effectual.  But  formidable  as  this  obstacle  seemed  to 
be  in  the  beginning,  it  was  promptly  removed  through  the  wisely  directed 
and  patriotic  efforts  of  the  prominent  leaders  of  the  party.  Such  men  as 
Hovey  K.  Clarke,  Silas  M.  Holmes,  Kinsley  S.  Bingham,  Seymour  Treadwell, 
all  on  the  Free  Soil  ticket,  F.  C.  Beaman,  S.  P.  Mead,  I.  P.  Christiancy, 
W.  W.  Murphy,  Whitney  Jones,  U.  Tracy  Howe,  Jacob  S.  Farrand,  Rev.  S. 
A.  Baker,  proprietor,  and  Rev.  Jabez  Fox,  editor  of  the  Detroit  Free  Demo 
crat,  were  especially  active  and  influential  in  preparing  the  way  for  this 
necessary  preliminary  step. 

This  readiness  of  the  Free  Soil  leaders  to  make  the  sacrifices 
required  on  their  part  bore  prompt  fruit.  The  Kansas  -  Nebraska 
bill  was  passed  by  the  House  on  the  22d  of  May,  and  three 
days  after  a  stirring  call  was  issued  for  a  mass  convention  of  the 
Free  Democrats  of  Michigan  at  Kalamazoo  on  June  21st.  The 
village  of  Kalamazoo  had  long  been  a  center  of  anti-  slavery 
sentiment,  and  the  agitation  against  the  pending  bill  had  been 
especially  vigorous  there  and  in  the  surrounding  counties.  The 
call  was  full  of  fiery  denunciation  of  the  slavery  propagandists, 
and  its  vigor  and  vim  showed  how  thoroughly  the  people  were 
aroused.  The  convention  itself,  OAving  to  bad  weather  and  other 


'102  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

inauspicious  circumstances,  was  not  a  large  one,  but  its  character 
and  action  were  significant  and  important.  Among  those  in 
attendance  were  four  of  the  candidates  on  the  "  Free  Demo 
crat"  ticket,  including  Kinsley  S.  Bingham.  M.  A.  McNaughton 
was  made  president,  and  Hovey  K.  Clarke,  from  the  committee 
for  that  purpose,  reported  a  series  of  resolutions  reviewing  the 
disgraceful  proceedings  of  the  session  of  Congress,  denouncing  the 
Kansas  -  Nebraska  bill  as  the  crowning  act  of  a  series  of  aggres 
sions  by  which  slavery  had  become  the  great  national  interest  of 
the  country,  and  appealing  to  the  virtue  of  the  people  "  to 
"  declare  in  an  unmistakable  tone  their  will  that  slavery  aggres- 
"  sion  upon  their  rights  shall  go  no  further,  that  there  shall  be 
"  no  compromise  with  slavery,  that  there  shall  be  no  more  slave 
"  States,  that  there  shall  be  no  slave  territory,  that  the  Fugitive- 
"  Slave  law  shall  be  repealed,  that  the  abominations  of  slavery 
"  shall  no  longer  be  perpetrated  under  the  sanctions  of  the  federal 
"  constitution,  and  that  they  will  make  their  will  effective  by 
"  driving  from  every  place  of  official  power  the  public  servants 
"  who  have  so  shamelessly  betrayed  their  trust,  and  by  putting 
"  in  their  places  men  who  are  honest  and  capable,  men  who 
"  will  be  faithful  to  the  constitution  and  the  great  claims  of 
"  humanity."  A  final  resolution  directed  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  of  sixteen,  two  from  each  judicial  district,  to  consult 
with  others  for  the  organization  of  a  new  party  animated  and 
guided  by  the  principles  expressed  in  the  resolutions,  and  it 
empowered  that  committee,  in  case  of  the  establishment  of  an 
"  efficient  organization "  of  such  a  character,  to  surrender  the 
"  distinctive  organization "  of  the  "  Free  Democrats  "  and  with 
draw  the  State  ticket  nominated  on  the  22d  of  February.  Tin's 
action,  reached  after  a  vigorous  discussion,  cleared  the  way  for 
the  coalition. 

A  few  days  before  the  meeting  of  the  Kalamazoo  convention, 
but    after   its   probable    course   had    become  apparent,  a  call    had 


"UNDER    THE    OAKS."  103 

appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  Detroit  Tribune  (it  was  copied, 
after  the  Kalamazoo  action,  by  the  Detroit  Free  Democrat  also) 
for  a  mass  -  meeting  at  Jackson,  on  July  6,  of  all  the  opponents 
of  slavery  extension.  This  was  signed  by  several  thousand  lead 
ing  citizens  of  Michigan,  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  including 
Zachariah  Chandler,  Jacob  .  M.  Howard,  H.  P.  Baldwin,  H.  K. 
Clarke,  Franklin  Moore,  John  Owen,  Jacob  S.  Farrand,  Shubael 
Conant,  J.  J.  Bagley,  E.  B.  Ward,  E.  "W.  King,  James  Burns, 
Charles  M.  Croswell,  Allen  Potter,  Austin  Blair,  Isaac  P.  Chris- 
tiancy,  Chas.  T.  Gorham,  and  others.  The  signatures  filled  two 
newspaper  columns  in  close  type,  and  it  was  announced  on  the 
last  day  that  several  hundred  names  had  been  received  too  late 
for  publication.  The  text  of  this  document  was  as  follows : 

TO   THE   PEOPLE   OF  MICHIGAN. 

A  great  wrong  has  been  perpetrated.  The  slave  power  of  this  country  has 
triumphed.  Liberty  is  trampled  under  foot.  The  Missouri  compromise,  a 
solemn  compact,  entered  into  by  our  fathers,  has  been  violated,  and  a  vast 
territory  dedicated  to  freedom  has  been  opened  to  slavery. 

This  act,  so  unjust  to  the  North,  has  been  perpetrated  under  circumstan 
ces  which  deepen  its  perfidy.  An  administration  placed  in  power  by  Northern 
votes  has  brought  to  bear  all  the  resources  of  executive  corruption  in  its 
support. 

Northern  Senators  and  Representatives,  in  the  face  of  the  overwhelming 
public  sentiment  of  the  North,  expressed  in  the  proceedings  of  public  meet 
ings  and  solemn  remonstrances,  without  a  iingle  petition  in  its  favor  on  their 
table,  and  not  daring  to  submit  this  great  question  to  the  people,  have  yielded 
to  the  seductions  of  executive  patronage,  and,  Judas-like,  betrayed  the  cause 
of  liberty  ;  while  the  South,  inspired  by  a  dominant  and  grasping  ambition, 
has,  without  distinction  of  party,  and  with  a  unanimity  almost  entire,  deliber 
ately  trampled  under  foot  the  solemn  compact  entered  into  in  the  midst  of  a 
crisis  threatening  to  the  peace  of  the  Union,  sanctioned  by  the  greatest  names 
of  our  history,  and  the  binding  force  of  which  has,  for  a  period  of  more  than 
thirty  years,  been  recognized  and  declared  by  numerous  acts  of  legislation. 
Such  an  outrage  upon  liberty,  such  a  violation  of  plighted  faith,  cannot  be 
submitted  to.  Tliis  great  wrong  must  be  righted,  or  there  is  no  longer  a 
North  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  The  extension  of  slavery,  under  the  folds 
of  the  American  flag,  is  a  stigma  upon  liberty.  The  indefinite  increase  of 
slave  representation  in  Congress  is  destructive  to  that  equality  between  free 
men  which  is  essential  to  the  permanency  of  the  Union. 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER 

The  safety  of  the  Union  —  the  rights  of  the  North  —  the  interests  of  free 
labor  —  the  destiny  of  a  vast  territory  and  its  untold  millions  for  all  coming 
time  —  and  tinally,  the  high  aspirations  of  humanity  for  universal  freedom,  all 
are  involved  in  the  issue  forced  upon  the  country  by  the  slave  power  and  its 
plastic  Northern  tools. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  the  recent  action  of  Congress  upon  this  subject,  and 
the  evident  designs  of  the  slave  power  to  attempt  still  further  aggressions  upon 
freedom  —  we  invite  all  our  fellow  citizens,  without  reference  to  former  politi 
cal  associations,  who  think  that  the  time  has  arrived  for  a  union  at  the  North 
to  protect  liberty  from  being  overthrown  and  downtrodden,  to  assemble  in 
mass  convention  on  Thursday,  the  6th  of  July  next,  at  4  o'clock,  P.  M.,  at 
Jackson,  there  to  take  such  measures  as  shall  be  thought  best  to  concentrate 
the  popular  sentiment  of  this  State  against  tbe  aggression  of  the  slave  power. 

The  response  to  this  appeal  was  the  gathering  at  Jackson,  on 
a  bright  mid  -  summer  day,  of  hundreds  of  influential  men  from 
all  parts  of  Michigan,  representing  every  shade  of  anti  -  slavery 
feeling,  and  thoroughly  alive  to  the  importance  of  the  occasion 
and  the  difficulty  of  the  task  projected.  The  convention  far 
outstripped  in  numbers  the  preparations  for  its  accommodation, 
and,  after  filling  to  excess  the  largest  hall  in  the  town,  it 
adjourned  to  meet  in  a  beautiful  oak  grove,  sruatcd  between 
the  village  and  the  county  race -course,  on  a  tract  of  knd  then 
known  as  "Morgan's  Forty."  The  growth  of  Jaclison  has  since 
covered  this  historic  ground  with  buildings,  and  the  spacious 
grove  has  dwindled  to  a  few  scattered  oaks  shading  the  city's 
busy  streets.  A  rude  platform  erected  for  speakers  was  appro 
priated  by  the  officers  of  the  convention,  and  about  it  thronged 
a  mass  of  earnest  men,  the  vanguard  of  the  Republican  host. 
In  a  body  so  incongruous  and  unwieldy,  confused  purposes,  dis 
cordant  views,  and  conflicting  interests  were  unavoidable,  but  the 
universal  fervor  of  the  fusion  sentiment  formed  a  broad  founda 
tion  for  harmonious  action,  and  the  convention  did  not  lack  for 
shrewd  and  sagacious  political  managers  with  the  skill  to  direct 
earnest  effort  into  practical  channels.  Such  differences  of  opinion 
as  there  were  on  questions  of  policy  and  as  to  candidates 
exhausted  themselves  in  private  conferences  arid  secret  commit- 


"UNDER   THE   OAKS."  105 

tee  deliberations,  and   the  convention  itself    did  its  business  with 
promptness,   without  discord,  and  amid  a  genuine  enthusiasm. 

Its  temporary  chairman  was  the  Hon.  Levi  Baxter,  of  Jones- 
ville,  a  pioneer  settler  of  Southern  Michigan,  and  the  founder  of 
a  family  of  marked  prominence  in  that  State.  He  was  well 
known  as  the  master  spirit  of  many  important  business  enter 
prises,  had  been  a  Whig  and  then  a  Free  Soiler,  and  had  been 
elected  to  the  State  Senate  by  a  local  coalition  of  both  those 
parties  in  his  own  county.  After  a  brief  address  by  Mr.  Baxter, 
Jeremiah  Van  Renselaer  was  chosen  temporary  secretary,  and 
this  committee  on  permanent  organization  was  appointed :  Sam 
uel  Barstow,  C.  H.  Yan  Cleeck,  Isaac  P.  Christiancy,  G.  W. 
Burchard,  Lovell  Moore,  James  W.  Hill,  Henry  W.  Lord,  and 
Newell  Avery.  While  they  were  deliberating,  the  convention 
adjourned  to  the  oak  grove,  and  there  listened  to  brief  speeches 
until  a  permanent  organization  was  effected  with  the  following 
gentlemen  as  officers  of  the  first  Republican  State  convention 
ever  held : 

President  —  David  S.   Walbridge,   of  Kalamazoo. 

Vice  -  Presidents  —  F.  C.  Beaman,  Oliver  Johnson,  Rudolph  Diepenbeck, 
Thomas  Curtis,  C.  T.  Gorham,  Pliny  Power,  Emanuel  Mann,  Charles  Draper, 
George  Winslow,  Norman  Little,  John  McKinney,  W.  W.  Murphy. 

Secretaries  —  J.  Van  Renselaer,   J.   F.   Conover,  A.  B.    Turner. 

Mr.  Walbridge  was  a  prominent  merchant  of  Central  Michi 
gan,  and  an  exceedingly  active  and  earnest  Whig.  He  had 
already  served  several  terms  in  the  Legislature  and  was  after 
ward  a  Republican  Congressman  for  four  years  from  Michigan. 
His  selection  as  president  of  the  convention  was  a  wise  recog 
nition  of  the  important  Whig  element  in  its  membership.  The 
great  throng  next  separated  into  representatives  of  the  four 
congressional  districts,  and  chose  the  following  committee  on 
resolutions:  Jacob  M.  Howard,  Austin  Blair,  Donald  Mclntyre, 
John  Hilsendegen,  Charles  Noble,  Alfred  R.  Metcalf,  John  W. 


106  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Turner,  Levi  Baxter,  Marsh  Giddings,  E.  Hussey,  A.  Williams, 
Jolm  McKinney,  Chas.  Draper,  M.  L.  Higgins,  J.  E.  Simmonds, 
Z.  B.  Knight.  The  chairmanship  of  this  important  committee 
naturally  fell  to  Jacob  M.  Howard,  of  Detroit,  a  lawyer  of 
eminence  and  rare  powers,  the  first  Whig  Congressman  from 
Michigan,  and  a  man  of  deservedly  high  reputation  for  intellect 
ual  vigor  and  personal  integrity.  He  was  afterward  for  nine 
years  a  Republican  Senator,  and  at  Washington  earned  national 
distinction  as  the  author  of  the  Thirteenth  Amendment  and 
by  much  able  and  laborious  public  service.  Mr.  Howard  had 
prepared  a  draft  of  a  platform  in  advance  of  the  convention,  and 
the  committee  met  to  consider  it  under  a  clump  of  trees 'on  the 
outskirts  of  the  grove  (at  the  present  intersection  of  Franklin  and 
Second  streets  in  the  city  of  Jackson).  No  material  modifications 
were  made  in  the  document,  which  was  adopted  substantially  as 
written  by  Mr.  Howard,  except  that  Austin  Blair  proposed  to 
add  two  resolutions  relating  to  State  affairs  purely.  As  to  the 
expediency  of  this  action  there  wras  some  difference  of  opinion, 
and  finally  Mr.  Blair  submitted  his  propositions  as  a  minority 
report,  and  the  convention  adopted  and  thus  added  them  to  the 
main  platform.  Over  the  resolution  formally  christening  the  new 
party  "Republican,"  there  was  no  especial  discussion.  There  had 
already  been  suggestions  made  throughout  the  country  that,  for 
the  new  organization  evidently  about  to  be  born,  it  might  be 
expedient  to  revive  "  the  name  of  that  wise  conservative  party, 
"  whose  aim  and  purpose  were  the  welfare  of  the  whole  Union 
"  and  the  stainless  honor  of  the  American  name."  *  The  his 
tory  of  this  resolution  in  the  Howard  platform  has  been  thus 
given  with  undoubted  correctness  by  Mr.  Joseph  Warren  in  a 
published  letter :  "  The  honor  of  having  named  and  christened 
"  the  party  the  writer  has  always  claimed  and  now  insists 
"  belongs  jointly  to  Jacob  M.  Howard,  Horace  Greeley  and  him- 


*  Israel  Washburn  in  an  address  at  Bangor,  lie. 


"  UNDER   THE    OAKS."  107 

"  self.  Soon  after  tlie  writer  began  to  advocate,  through  the 
"  columns  of  the  Tribune,  the  organization  of  all  opponents 
"  of  slavery  into  a  single  party,  Horace  Greeley  voluntarily 
"  opened  a  correspondence  with  him  in  regard  to  this  movement, 
"  in  which  he  frankly  communicated  his  views  and  gave  him 
"  many  valuable  suggestions  as  to  the  wisest  course  to  be 
"  pursued.  This  correspondence  was  necessarily  very  short,  as 
"  it  began  and  ended  in  June,  it  being  only  five  weeks  from 
"  the  repeal  of  the  compromise,  May  30,  to  the  Jackson  con- 
"  vention.  In  his  last  letter,  received  only  a  day  or  two  before 
"  it  was  to  assemble,  Mr.  Greeley  suggested  to  him  <  Republican,' 
"  according  to  his  recollection,  but,  as  Mr.  Howard  contended, 
"  '  Democrat  -  Republican,'  as  an  appropriate  name  for  the  pro- 
"  posed  new  party.  But  this  is  of  comparatively  little  conse- 
"  quence.  TJie  material  fact  is,  that  this  meeting  the  writer's 
"  cordial  approval,  he  gave  Mr.  Greeley 's  letter  containing  the 
"  suggestions  to  Mr.  Howard  on  the  day  of  the  convention, 
"  after  he  had  been  appointed  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
"  resolutions,  and  strongly  advised  its  adoption.  This  was  done 
"  and  the  platform  adopted." 

While  the  committee  on  resolutions  was  absent,  the  conven 
tion  was  addressed  by  Zachariali  Chandler,  Kinsley  S.  Bingham, 
and  a  number  of  others.  No  complete  record  was  made  of  Mr. 
Chandler's  remarks  upon  this  occasion,  but  the  report  of  the 
convention  in  the  Detroit  Free  Democrat,  prepared  by  its  secre 
tary,  contains  this :  "  We  would  say  in  parenthesis  that  an 
"  allusion  most  generously  made  by  Mr.  Chandler  to  Mr.  Bing- 
"  ham  drew  from  the  crowd  three  rousing  cheers  for  the  latter 
"  gentleman."  The  Jackson  Citizen  also  gave  the  following 
reference  to  Mr.  Chandler's  remarks:  "When  in  the  course  of 
"  his  speech  he  gave  a  brief  history  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso  in 
"Michigan,  alluding  to  the  anti- slavery  resolutions  passed  by  a 
".Democratic  State  convention  in  1849,  and  the  resolutions  of 


108  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

"  instructions  to  our  Senators  arid  Representatives  in  Congress 
u  by  the  Legislature  on  the  same  subject,  and  then  exclaimed 
"  that  '  not  one  of  our  Representatives  had  ever  been  honest 
"  enough  to  carry  them  out  except  Kinsley  S.  Bingharn,'  a  spark 
"  of  enthusiasm  fired  the  crowd,  the  shout  of  approbation  ran 
"  tlirougli  the  vast  assembly,  and,  if  any  doubt  had  previously 
"  existed  as  to  who  should  be  the  man,  that  doubt  was  then 
"  removed."  These  addresses  were  followed  by  the  report  of  the 
committee  on  resolutions,  which  was  read  by  Mr.  Howard  amid 
f req  lent  outbursts  of  applause,  and  was  as  follows  : 

The  freemen  of  Michigan,  assembled  in  convention  in  pursuance  of  a 
spontaneous  call,  emanating  from  various  parts  of  the  State,  to  consider  upon 
the  measures  which  duty  demands  of  us,  as  citizens  of  a  free  State,  to  take  in 
reference  to  the  late  acts  of  Congress  on  the  subject  of  slavery  and  its  antici 
pated  further  extension,  do 

Resolve,  That  the  institution  of  slavery  except  in  punishment  of  crime  is 
a  great  moral  social  and  political  evil;  that  it  was  so  regarded  by  the  fathers 
of  the  republic,  the  founders  and  best  friends  of  the  Union,  by  the  heroes  and 
sages  of  the  Revolution  who  contemplated  arid  intended  its  gradual  and  peace 
ful  extinction  as  an  element  hostile  to  the  liberties  for  which  they  toiled;  that 
its  history  in  the  United  States,  the  experience  of  men  best  acquainted  with 
its  workings,  the  dispassionate  confession  of  those  who  are  interested  in  it;  its 
tendency  to  relax  the  vigor  of  industry  and  enterprise  inherited  in  the  white 
man;  the  very  surface  of  the  earth  where  it  subsists  ;  the  vices  and  immorali 
ties  which  are  its  natural  growth  ;  the  stringent  police,  often  wanting  in 
humanity  and  revolting  to  the  sentiments  of  every  generous  heart,  which  it 
demands;  the  danger  it  has  already  wrought  and  the  future  danger  which  it 
portends  to  the  security  of  the  Union  and  our  constitutional  liberties  —  all 
incontestably  prove  it  to  be  such  evil.  Surely  that  institution  is  not  to  be 
strengthened  and  encouraged  against  which  Washington,  the  calmest  and  wisest 
of  our  nation,  bore  unequivocal  testimony;  as  to  which  Jefferson,  filled  with 
a  love  of  liberty,  exclaimed:  "Can  the  liberties  of  a  nation  be  ever  thought 
"  secure  when  we  have  removed  their  only  firm  basis,  a  conviction  in  the 
"minds  of  the  people  that  their  liberties  are  THE  GIFT  OF  GOD  ;  that  they  are 
"  not  to  be  violated  but  with  His  wrath  ?  Indeed,  I  tremble  for  my  country 
"when  I  reflect  that  God  is  just;  that  His  justice  cannot  sleep  forever;  that, 
"considering  numbers,  nature  and  natural  means  only,  a  revolution  of  the 
"wheel  of  fortune,  an  exchange  of  situation  is  among  possible  events;  that  it 
"may  become  probable  by  supernatural  interference!  The  Almighty  has  no 
"  attribute  which  can  take  sides  with  us  in  such  a  contest  ! "  And  as  to  which 


"UNDER   THE   OAKS."  109 

another  eminent  patriot  in  Virginia,  on  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  also  ex 
claimed:  "Had  we  turned  our  eyes  inwardly  when  we  supplicated  the  Father 
"of  Mercies  to  aid  the  injured  and  oppressed,  when  we  invoked  the  Author 
"of  Righteousness  to  attest  the  purity  of  our  motives  and  the  justice  of  our 
"  cause,  and  implored  the  God  of  battles  to  aid  our  exertions  in  its  defense, 
"should  we  not  have  stood  more  self -convicted  than  the  contrite  publican?" 
We  believe  these  sentiments  to  be  as  true  now  as  they  were  then. 

Resolved,  That  slavery  is  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  man  as  man;  that 
the  law  of  nature,  which  is  the  law  of  liberty,  gives  to  no  man  rights  superior 
to  those  of  another;  that  God  and  nature  have  secured  to  each  individual  the 
inalienable  right  of  equality,  any  violation  of  which  must  be  the  result  of 
superior  force;  and  that  slavery  therefore  is  a  perpetual  war  upon  its  victims; 
that  whether  we  regard  the  institution  as  first  originating  in  captures  made  in 
war,  or  the  subjection  of  the  debtor  as  the  slave  of  his  creditor,  or  the  foici- 
ble  seizure  and  sale  of  children  by  their  parents  or  subjects  by  their  king,  and 
whether  it  be  viewed  in  this  country  as  a  "necessary  evil"  or  otherwise,  we 
find  it  to  be,  like  imprisonment  for  debt,  but  a  relic  of  barbarism  as  well  as 
an  element  of  weakness  in  the  midst  of  the  State,  inviting  the  attack  of  exter 
nal  enemies,  and  a  ceaseless  cause  of  internal  apprehension  and  alarm.  Such 
are  the  lessons  taught  us,  not  only  by  the  histories  of  other  commonwealths, 
but  by  that  of  our  own  beloved  country. 

Resolved,  That  the  history  of  the  formation  of  the  constitution,  and 
particularly  the  enactment  of  the  ordinance  of  July  13,  1787,  prohibiting 
slavery  north  of  the  Ohio,  abundantly  shows  it  to  have  been  the  purpose  of 
our  fathers  not  to  promote  but  to  prevent  the  spread  of  slavery.  And  we, 
reverencing  their  memories  and  cherishing  free  republican  faith  as  our  richest 
inheritance,  which  we  vow,  at  whatever  expense,  to  defend,  thus  publicly 
proclaim  our  determination  to  oppose  by  all  the  powerful  and  honorable  means 
in  our  power,  now  and  henceforth,  all  attempts,  direct  or  indirect,  to  extend 
slavery  in  this  country,  or  to  permit  it  to  extend  into  any  region  or  locality 
in  which  it  does  not  now  exist  by  positive  law,  or  to  admit  new  slave  States 
into  the  Union. 

Resolved,  That  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  gives  to  Congress 
full  and  complete  power  for  the  municipal  government  of  the  territories 
thereof,  a  power  which  from  its  nature  cannot  be  either  alienated  or  abdicated 
without  yielding  up  to  the  territory  an  absolute  political  independence,  which 
involves  an  absurdity.  That  the  exorcise  of  this  power  necessarily  looks  to 
the  formation  of  States  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union;  and  on  the  question 
whether  they  shall  be  admitted  as  free  or  slave  States  Congress  has  a  right  to 
adopt  such  prudential  and  preventive  measures  as  the  principles  of  liberty 
and  the  interests  of  the  whole  country  require.  That  this  question  is  one  of 
the  gravest  importance  to  the  free  States,  inasmuch  as  the  constitution  itself 
creates  an  inequality  in  the  apportionment  of  representatives,  greatly  to  the 
detriment  of  the  free  and  to  the  advantage  of  the  slave  States.  This  question, 
so  vital  to  the  interests  of  the  free  States  (but  which  we  are  told  by  certain 


110  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

political  doctors  of  modern  times  is  to  be  treated  with  utter  indifference )  is 
one  which  wre  hold  it  to  be  our  right  to  discuss;  which  we  hold  it  the  duty  of 
Congress  in  every  instance  to  determine  in  unequivocal  language,  and  in  a 
manner  to  prevent  the  spread  of  slavery  and  the  increase  of  such  unequal 
representation.  In  short,  we  claim  that  the  North  is  a  party  to  the  new  bargain, 
and  is  entitled  to  have  a  voice  and  influence  in  settling  its  terms.  And  in  view  of 
the  ambitious  designs  of  the  slave  power,  we  regard  the  man  or  the  party 
who  would  forego  this  right,  as  untrue  to  the  honor  and  interest  of  the  North 
and  unworthy  of  its  support. 

Resolved,  That  the  repeal  of  the  "Missouri  Compromise,"  contained  in  the 
recent  act  of  Congress  for  the  creation  of  the  territories  of  Nebraska  and  Kan 
sas,  thus  admitting  slavery  into  a  region  till  then  sealed  against  it  by  law, 
equal  in  extent  to  the  thirteen  old  States,  is  an  act  unprecedented  in  the  history 
of  the  country,  and  one  which  must  engage  the  earnest  and  serious  attention 
of  every  Northern  man.  And  as  Northern  freemen,  independent  of  all  former 
parties,  we  here  hold  this  measure  up  to  the  public  execration,  for  the 
following  reasons: 

That  it  is  a  plain  departure  from  the  policy  of  the  fathers  of  the 
republic  in  regard  to  slavery,  and  a  wanton  and  dangerous  frustration  of  their 
purposes  and  their  hopes. 

That  it  actually  admits  and  was  intended  to  admit  slavery  into  said 
territories,  and  thus  (to  use  the  words  applied  by  Judge  Tucker,  of  Virginia, 
to  the  fathers  of  that  commonwealth )  ' '  sows  the  seeds  of  an  evil  which  like 
' '  a  leprosy  hath  descended  upon  their  posterity  with  accumulated  rancor, 
"visiting  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon  succeeding  generations."  That  it  was 
sprung  upon  the  country  stealthily  and  by  surprise,  without  necessity,  without 
petition,  and  without  previous  discussion,  thus  violating  the  cardinal  principle 
of  republican  government,  which  requires  all  legislation  to  accord  with  the 
opinions  and  sentiments  of  the  people. 

That  on  the  part  of  the  South  it  is  an  open  and  undisguised  breach  of 
faith,  as  contracted  between  the  North  and  South  in  the  settlement  of  the 
Missouri  question  in  1820,  by  which  the  tranquillity  of  the  two  sections  was 
restored;  a  compromise  binding  upon  all  honorable  men. 

That  it  is  also  an  open  violation  of  the  compromise  of  1850,  by  which, 
for  the  sake  of  peace,  and  to  calm  the  distempered  pulse  of  certain  enemies  of 
the  Union  at  the  South,  the  North  accepted  and  acquiesced  in  the  odious 
"fugitive  slave  law"  of  that  year. 

That  it  is  also  an  undisguised  and  unmanly  contempt  of  the  pledge  given 
to  the  country  by  the  present  dominant  party  at  their  national  convention  in 
1852,  not  to  "agitate  the  subject  of  slavery  in  or  out  of  Congress,"  being  the 
same  convention  that  nominated  Franklin  Pierce  to  the  Presidency. 

That  it  is  greatly  injurious  to  the  free  States,  and  to  the  Territories  them 
selves,  tending  to  retard  the  settlement  and  to  prevent  the  improvement  of 
the  country  by  means  of  free  labor,  and  to  discourage  foreign  immigrants 
resorting  thither  for  their  homes. 


112  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

That  one  of  its  principal,  aims  is  to  give  to  the  slave  States  such  a  de 
cided  and  practical  preponderance  in  all  the  measures  of  government  as  shall 
reduce  the  North,  with  all  her  industry,  wealth  and  enterprise,  to  be  the  mere 
province  of  a  few  slave  -  holding  oligarchs  of  the  South  —  a  condition  too 
shameful  to  be  contemplated. 

Because,  as  openly  avowed  by  its  Southern  friends,  it  is  intended  as  an 
entering  wedge  to  the  still  further  augmentation  of  the  slave  power  by  the 
acquisition  of  the  other  Territories,  cursed  with  the  same  "leprosy." 

Resolved,  That  the  obnoxious  measure  to  which  we  have  alluded  ought  to 
be  repealed,  and  a  provision  substituted  for  it,  prohibiting  slavery  in  said  Ter 
ritories,  and  each  of  them. 

Resolved,  That  after  this  gross  breach  of  faith  and  wanton  affront  to  us 
as  Northern  men,  we  hold  ourselves  absolved  from  all  "compromises"  (except 
those  expressed  in  the  constitution)  for  the  protection  of  slavery  and  slave 
owners  ;  that  we  now  demand  u^asures  of  protection  and  immunity  for  our 
selves;  and  among  them  we  demand  ^>e  repeal  of  the  fugitive  slave  law,  and  an 
act  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Resolved,  That  we  notice  without  dismay  certain  popular  indications  by 
slaveholders  on  the  frontier  of  said  Territories  of  a  purpose  on  their  part  to 
prevent  by  violence  the  settlement  of  the  country  by  non-slaveholding  men. 
To  the  latter  we  say  :  Be  of  good  cheer,  persevere  in  the  right,  remember 
the  Republican  motto,  "THE  NORTH  WILL  DEFEND  YOU." 

Resolved,  That  postponing  and  suspending  all  differences  with  regard  to 
political  economy -or  administrative  policy,  in  view  of  the  imminent  danger 
that  Kansas  and  Nebraska  will  be  grasped  by  slavery,  and  a  thousand  miles 
of  slave  soil  be  thus  interposed  between  the  free  States  of  the  Atlantic  and 
those  of  the  Pacific,  we  will  act  cordially  and  faithfully  in  unison  to  avert 
and  repeal  this  gigantic  wrong  and  shame. 

Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  necessity  of  battling  for  the  first  principles 
of  republican  government,  and  against  the  schemes  of  an  aristocracy,  the  most 
revolting  and  oppressive  with  which  the  earth  was  ever  cursed,  or  man  de 
based,  we  will  co-operate  and  be  known  as  REPUBLICANS  until  the  contest  be 
terminated. 

Resolved,  That  we  earnestly  recommend  the  calling  of  a  general  conven 
tion  of  the  free  States,  and  such  of  the  slaveholding  States,  or  portions 
thereof,  as  may  desire  to  be  there  represented,  with  a  view  to  the  adoption  of 
other  more  extended  and  effectual  measures  in  resistance  to  the  encroachments 
of  slavery;  and  that  a  committee  of  five  persons  be  appointed  to  correspond 
and  co-operate  with  our  friends  in  other  States  on  the  subject, 

Resolved,  That  in  relation  to  the  domestic  affairs  of  the  State  we  urge  a 
more  economical  administration  of  the  government  and  a  more  rigid  account 
ability  of  the  public  officers;  a  speedy  payment  of  the  balance  of  the  public 
debt,  and  the  lessening  of  the  amount  of  taxation  ;  a  careful  preservation  of 
the  primary  school  and  university  funds,  and  their  diligent  application  to  the 


UNDER   THE   OAKS." 


great  objects  for  which  they  were  created  ;  and  also  further  legislation  to  pre 
vent  the  unnecessary  or  imprudent  sale  of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  State. 

Resolved,  That  in  our  opinion  the  commercial  wants  of  Michigan  require 
the  enactment  of  a  general  railroad  law,  which,  while  it  shall  secure  the 
investment  and  encourage  the  enterprise  of  stockholders,  shall  also  guard  and 
protect  the  rights  of  the  public  and  of  individuals,  and  .  that  the  preparation 
of  such  a  measure  requires  the  first  talents  of  the  State. 

The  resolutions  were  adopted  almost  unanimously,  and  there 
upon  Isaac  P.  Christiancy,  as  chairman  of  the  committee  of 
sixteen  appointed  by  the  Kalamazoo  convention,  came  forward 
and  announced  the  absolute  abandonment  of  the  State  ticket  and 
organization  of  the  Free  Democracy  —  an  act  which  was  greeted 
with  loud  and  prolonged  applause.  A  committee  of  ninety, 
consisting  of  three  from  each  Senatorial  district  in  the  State, 
and  including  the  names  of  Jacob  M.  Howard,  Moses  Wisner, 
Charles  M.  Croswell,  Fernando  C.  Beaman,  and  Chas.  T.  Gor- 
ham,  was  next  appointed  to  nominate  a  State  ticket,  and  the 
convention  adjourned  until  evening.  At  that  session,  which  was 
held  in  one  of  the  village  halls,  a  State  central  committee  was 
chosen,  and  the  committee  on  nominations  reported  the  following 
ticket  which  was  unanimously  endorsed  by  the  convention,  this 
closing  its  formal  proceedings  : 

Governor  —  Kinsley  S.  Bingham,  of  Livingston. 
Lieutenant  -  Governor  —  George  A.  Coe,  of  Branch. 
Secretary  of  State  —  John  McKinney,  of  Van  Buren. 

State  Treasurer—  Silas  M.  Holmes,  of  Wayne. 
Attorney  -  General  —  Jacob  M.  Howard,  of  Wayne. 

Auditor  -  General  —  Whitney  Jones,  of  Ingham. 

Commissioner  of  Land  Office  —  Seymour  B.  Treadwell,  of  Jackson. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  —  Ira  Mayhew,   of  Monroe. 

Member  Board  of  Education  —  John  R  Kellogg,  of  Allegan. 

(To  fill  vacancy)  —  Hiram  L.  Miller,  of   Saginaw. 

The  response  of  the  anti-  slavery  masses  to  the  action  of  the 
convention  was  prompt  and  cordial.  Some  of  the  more  earnest 
and  enthusiastic  Whigs  who  had  hoped  that  the  Northern  wing 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

of  their  party  could  be  transformed  into  an  efficient  champion 
of  slavery  restriction  —  Mr.  Chandler  had  shared  in  this  feeling 
—  at  first  doubted  the  wisdom  of  what  had  been  done.  They 
found  themselves  called  upon  to  make  large  sacrifices  of  cher 
ished  traditions  and  ties,  and  felt  that  their  representation  upon 
the  fusion  State  ticket  was  not  in  due  proportion  to  the  number 
of  votes  they  would  be  expected  to  contribute  to  its  election. 
But  this  not  unnatural  feeling  of  early  disappointment  had  but 
a  brief  existence  among  the  Whigs  of  strong  anti- slavery  convic 
tions.  As  the  good  faith  of  the  movement,  the  spontaneous 
character  of  the  popular  uprising,  and  the  possibility  of  accom 
plishing  anti  -  slavery  union  throughout  the  North  became  clear, 
they  laid  aside  all  hesitation  and  joined  with  sincere  ardor  in  the 
work  of  Republican  organization.  Before  the  close  of  the  sum 
mer  of  1854  the  strong  leaders  and  the  intelligent  rank  and  file 
of  the  Michigan  Whigs  had  accepted  the  new  fellowship,  and  the 
action  of  the  Jackson  convention  received  their  hearty  acquies 
cence  and  loyal  support.  Mr.  Chandler  rendered  valuable  service 
in  the  following  campaign  as  an  organizer  of  Republicanism 
throughout  Michigan,  and  put  into  this  work  enough  of  his 
characteristic  vigor  to  earn  from  the  Democratic  papers  the  title 
of  the  "  traveling  agent "  of  the  "  new  Abolition  party." 

There  was  still  among  the  Whigs  a  small  conservative  minor 
ity  who,  chiefly  through  the  inspiration  of  pro -slavery  sentiment 
and  under  the  leadership  of  the  Detroit  Advertiser,  made  a  desper 
ate  effort  to  prevent  the  abandonment  of  their  party  organization. 
They  procured  the  signing  of  a  circular  addressed  to  the  Whig 
committee  asking  that  a  State  convention  should  be  held,  and  in 
compliance  with  this  request  a  call  wras  issued  for  a  convention 
to  meet  at  Marshall  on  October  4.  When  it  assembled  it  was 
found  that  the  great  majority  of  its  delegates  favored  union  with 
the  Republicans.  They  controlled  its  proceedings  throughout,  and 
put  in  the  chair  Rufus  Hosmer  who  was  then  the  head  of  the 


"UNDER   THE    OAKS"  115 

new  Republican  State  central  committee,  elected  a  State  central 
committee  composed  of  ardent  fusionists,  defeated  the  schemes 
for  the  nomination  of  a  ticket,  and  issued  an  address  urging  the 
Whigs  of  Michigan  to  unite  in  this  campaign  with  all  other 
opponents  of  the  spread  of  slavery.  This  decisive  action  made 
the  Michigan  election  of  1854:  a  contest  between  Republicanism 
and  the  Democracy  (which  held  its  convention  at  Detroit  on 
September  14,  and  placed  John  S.  Barry  at  the  head  of  its 
State  ticket). 

The  local  result  of  the  Jackson  convention  was  a  permanent 
political  revolution.  In  November  the  Republicans  elected  their 
entire  State  ticket  (giving  Mr.  Bingham  43,652  votes  to  38,675 
for  Mr.  Barry),  three  of  the  four  Congressmen,  and  a  Legisla 
ture  with  an  overwhelming  majority  in  both  branches  against 
the  Kansas  -  Nebraska  policy.  The  Republican  ascendancy  thus 
established  in  Michigan  has  never  been  impaired.  That  party 
has  been  victorious  in  every  State  election  since  1854;  and  of 
the  Governors  since  chosen  every  one  who  was  at  that  time  a 
resident  of  the  State  (Henry  II.  Crapo  did  not  settle  in  Michigan 
until  1856)  was  a  member  of  the  Jackson  convention.  Michi 
gan  has  also  since  sent  only  Republicans  to  the  Senate;  every 
one  of  them  except  Thomas  "W.  Ferry  (who  had  barely  attained 
his  majority  in  1854)  was  a  prominent  actor  in  the  scenes 
"under  the  oaks/'  It  has  sent  seventy -six  Republicans  and  only 
seven  Democrats  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  the 
Republicans  have  controlled  both  branches  of  every  Legislature 
since  1854.  Iowa  is  the  only  State  which  can  point  to  a  similar 
record  of  uninterrupted  Republican  victory.  In  Vermont  the 
Democrats  have  been  uniformly  defeated,  but  the  opposition 
ticket  in  1854  was  not  called  Republican.  Of  the  States  which 
have  been  admitted  since  1854,  three  (Kansas,  Nebraska  and 
Minnesota)  have  been  steadfastly  Republican,  but  Michigan  sur 
passes  them  in  the  duration,  while  she  equals  them  in  the 


116  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

quality,  of  her  fidelity  to  the  party  of  Freedom.  Each  of  the 
other  Northern  States  has  at  least  once  chosen  an  anti  -  Republi 
can  Governor,  while  Michigan  (with  Iowa)  has  been  uniformly 
Republican. 

The  claim  that  Michigan  was  the  first  State  to  organize  and 
name  the  Republican  party  cannot  be  successfully  disputed.*  The 
convention  "under  the  oaks"  of  Jackson  ante -dates  by  a  week 
or  more  all  similar  bodies.  The  first  Republican  convention  in 
Wisconsin  was  held  at  Madison  on  July  13,  1854.  Its  call  was 
issued  ( July  9 )  after  a  number  of  Anti  -  Nebraska  meetings  had 
been  held  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  and  invited  "  all  men 
"  opposed  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  and  the 
"  extension  of  the  slave  power "  to  take  part.  This  convention 
adopted  the  following  as  one  of  its  resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  we  accept  the  issue  forced  upon  us  by  the  slave  power, 
and  in  defense  of  Freedom  will  co-operate  and  be  known  as  Republicans. 

The  Anti  -  Nebraska  men  of  Massachusetts  met  in  convention 
on  July  19  of  the  same  year,  and  organized  the  Republican 
party  in  that  State  by  adopting  the  following  resolution: 

Resolved,  That  in  co-operation  with  the  friends  of  Freedom  in  sister  States, 
we  hereby  form  the  Republican  party  of  Massachusetts. 

But  the  Republicans  did  not  carry  Massachusetts  that  year, 
the  Anti  -  Nebraska  vote  being  cast  almost  solidly  for  the  suc 
cessful  Know -Nothing  ticket.  In  Vermont,  on  July  13,  1854, 

*  The  Senator  from  Virginia  has  stated  that  the  Republican  party  originated  in  New 
England,  from  Know  Nothingism.  It  is  not  true,  sir  ;  it  had  no  such  origin  ;  it  originated 
in  no  such  place  and  from  no  such  source.  The  Republican  party  was  born  in  Michi 
gan,  on  the  sixth  day  of  July,  1854.  It  had  no  origin  from  Know  Nothingism  or  any  other 
thing,  except  the  outrageous,  the  infamous  repeal  of  the  time -honored  Missouri  compro 
mise  by  the  Congress  of  that  year.  It  was  christened  the  Republican  party  at  its  birth. 
It  is  perfectly  evident  the  Senator  from  Virginia  knows  nothing  at  all  about  the  Republican 
party,  its  origin,  its  ends,  or  its  aims.  He  does  not  know  anything  about  its  birth  or  its 
principles.  I  merely  wish  to  correct  the  misapprehension  on  his  part  that  it  was  bom  in 
New  England  or  anywhere  else  out  of  the  State  of  Michigan.  There  is  where  it  was  born, 
sir  ;  and  we  glory  in  the  production  of  such  a  child. — Mr.  Chandler  in  the  Senate,  Decem 
ber  1U,  1859,  in  reply  to  Senator  Mason,  of  Virginia. 


"UNDER   THE    OAKS."  117 

a  mass  convention  was  held  of  persons  "in  favor  of  resisting, 
"  by  all  constitutional  means,  tlie  usurpations  of  the  propagandists 
"  of  slavery."  Among  the  resolutions  there  adopted  was  one 
which  closed  with  these  words :  "  We  propose  and  respectfully 
"  recommend  to  the  friends  of  Freedom  in  other  States  to 
"co-operate  and  be  known  as  Republicans."  A  State  ticket 
was  nominated,  but,  the  State  committees  of  the  various  parties 
being  empowered  "to  fill  vacancies,"  a  fusion  ticket  was  after 
ward  placed  in  the  field,  voted  for  and  elected  under  the  name 
of  Fusion.  On  the  same  day  a  convention  was  held  in  Colum 
bus,  O.,  which  organized  a  canvass  which  swept  that  State  at 
the  fall  elections ;  during  this  campaign  most  of  the  Anti- 
]STebraska  candidates  called  themselves  Republicans,  and  the  party 
formally  adopted  that  name  at  the  State  convention  in  1855  which 
nominated  Salmon  P.  Chase  for  Governor.  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  Jackson  convention  preceded  all  these  kindred  gatherings. 
To  this  statement  may  be  profitably  added  the  testimony  of 
Henry  Wilson,  who,  after  thoroughly  investigating  the  whole 
subject  of  the  origin  of  Republicanism,  wrote :  * 

But  whatever  suggestions  others  may  have  made,  or  whatever  action  may 
have  been  taken  elsewhere,  to  Michigan  belongs  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
State  to  form  and  christen  the  Republican  party  More  than  three  months 
before  the  passage  of  the  Kansas  -  Nebraska  bill  the  Free  Soil  convention  had 
adopted  a  mixed  ticket,  made  up  of  Free-Soilers  and  "Whigs,  in  order  that 
there  might  be  a  combination  of  the  anti- slavery  elements  of  the  State. 
Immediately  on  the  passage  of  the  Nebraska  bill,  Joseph  Warren,  editor  <f 
the  Detroit  Tribune,  entered  upon  a  course  of  measures  that  resulted  in  bring 
ing  the  Whig  and  Free  Soil  parties  together,  not  by  a  mere  coalition  of  the 
two,  but  by  a  fusion  of  the  elements  of  which  the  two  were  composed.  In 
his  own  language,  he  "took  ground  in  favor  of  disbanding  the  Whig  and 
"Free  Soil  parties  and  of  the  organization  of  a  new  party,  composed  of  all 
"the  opponents  of  slavery  extension."  Among  the  first  steps  taken  toward 
the  accomplishment  of  this  vitally  important  object  was  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Free  Soil  ticket.  This  having  been  effected,  a  call  for  a  mass  convention  was 
issued  signed  by  more  than  10,000  names.  The  convention  met  on  the  Gth 
day  of  July,  and  was  largely  attended. 

*  Wilson's  "Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power  in  America,"  volume  2,  page  412. 


118  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

A  platform  drawn  by  the  Hon.  Jacob  M.  Howard,  afterward  United 
States  Senator  from  Michigan,  was  adopted,  not  only  opposing  the  extension 
of  slavery,  but  declaring  in  favor  of  its  abolition  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
The  report  also  proposed  the  name  of  "Republican"  for  the  new  party,  which 
was  adopted  by  the  convention.  Kinsley  S.  Bingham  was  nominated  for  Gov 
ernor,  and  was  triumphantly  elected;  and  Michigan,  thus  early  to  enter  the 
ranks  of  the  Republican  party,  has  remained  steadfast  to  its  then  publicly- 
avowed  principles  and  faith. 

It  is  true  that  the  Michigan  convention  of  July  6,  1854,  was 
only  one  development  of  a  vast  national  agitation.  The  forces 
that  gave  it  being  were  at  work  throughout  the  continent.  Like 
movements  were  on  foot  in  every  Northern  State.  Kindred 
bodies  met  in  the  same  month  to  take  the  same  action.  But  to 
the  men  who  gathered  on  that  mid -summer  day  in  the  oak 
grove  at  Jackson  belongs  the  honor  of  being  the  first  to  com 
prehend  a  great  opportunity;  they  were  wise  enough  to  improve 
all  its  possibilities,  and  there  founded  and  named  the  party  of 
the  future. 


CHAPTEE    VII. 

THE    FIKST    ELECTION    TO    THE    SENATE. 

HE  abrogation  of  the  Missouri  compromise  was  fol 
lowed  by  the  arbitrary  enforcement  of  the  Fugitive  Slave 
act-  in  important  Northern  cities,  and  by  a  determined 
struggle  between  freedom  and  slavery  for  the  possession 
of  the  virgin  soil  of  Kansas.  These  phases  of  "the  irrepressible 
conflict"  were  attended  by  many  exciting  incidents  which  con 
stantly  strengthened  the  new  anti- slavery  party  in  the  North 
and  in  the  end  made  it  the  main  competitor  of  the  Democracy 
in  the  presidential  election  of  1856.  The  decisive  character  of 
its  victory  in  Michigan  in  1854  made  Republicanism  especially 
strong  in  that  State,  and  the  events  of  each  successive  month  of 
1855  and  1856  added  to  its  power  both  in  numbers  and  in  sen 
timent.  Throughout  this  period  Mr.  Chandler  labored,  in  public 
and  in  private,  and  with  earnestness  and  effect,  to  inspire  the 
new  party  with  vigor  of  conviction  and  unflinching  firmness 
of  purpose.  No  man  did  more  than  he  to  make  it  thoroughly 
"radical,"  and  his  former  prominence  as  a  Whig  rendered  his 
efforts  especially  fruitful.  His  earliest  Republican  speeches  did 
not  differ  from  his  latest  in  courage  of  opinion,  in  plainness  of 
expression,  or  in  manifest  sincerity  of  conviction.  On  September 
12,  1855,  he  addressed,  with  Henry  Wilson,  an  immense  mass- 
meeting  at  Kalamazoo,  and  denounced  the  border -ruffian  crimes 
in  Kansas  in  the  strongest  terms.  On  the  30th  of  May,  1856, 
he  was  one  of  the  speakers  at  a  large  meeting  held  in  the  city 
of  Detroit  to  consider  the  assault  of  Preston  Brooks  upon 
Charles  Sunnier.  He  there  gave  expression  to  Republican  indig- 


120  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

nation  in  the  plainest  language.  After  fitly  describing  the  era 
of  pro -slavery  murder  in  Kansas,  and  the  recent  crime  of 
'•  a  cowardly  assassin  on  the  very  floor  of  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,"  he  offered  two  resolutions,  one  demanding  the 
impeachment  of  Franklin  Pierce  for  his  action  in  relation  to 
Kansas,  and  a  second  to  expel  Rust,  of  Arkansas,  for  his  attack 
upon  Horace  Greeley,  and  Preston  Brooks  for  his  assault  on  Mr. 
Sumner.  Then  he  said  in  substance: 

This  is  not  a  time  for  argument.  It  is  a  time  for  action,  for  speaking 
boldly  and  fearlessly.  .  .  .  This  assault  is  upon  the  entire'  North.  So 
long  have  craven  doughface  representatives  sat  in  her  places  in  Congress  that 
the  South  has  come  to  dcubt  our  manhood.  .  .  .  We  should  uphold  the 
hands  of  our  representatives,  and  tell  them  that  an  indignity  offered  to  them 
is  an  indignity  offered  to  us.  [Applause.]  .  .  .  The  resolution  calling  for 
the  impeachment  of  the  President  is  one  proper  to  be  offered.  ±±e  has  con 
nived  at  and  aided  all  this  Kansas  treachery  and  wrong,  lie  supports  the 
bogus  Legislature  of  Kansas  and  orders  its  odious  laws  enforced.  If  Thomas 
Jefferson  was  to  read  his  preamble  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in 
Kansas,  he  could  be  condemned  by  those  laws  to  imprisonment  in  the  peni 
tentiary  for  two  years.  .  .  .  What  the  British  did  at  Lexington,  the 
United  States  troops,  under  the  orders  of  President  Pierce,  did  at  Lawrence. 
Our  fathers  resisted  by  all  means  in  their  power.  We  should  imitate  their 
example.  What  should  we  do  ?  .  .  .  We  should  send  enough  men  there 
to  put  Kansas  in  a  peaceable  condition. 

Mr.  Chandler  also  said:  "Had  I  been  on  the  floor  of  the 
"Senate  when  that  assault  occurred,  so  help  me  God,  that 
"  ruffian's  blood  would  have  flowed,"  and  he  closed  by  declaring 
that  Detroit  should  send  one  hundred  men  to  Kansas,  and  by 
pledging  himself,  if  that  was  done,  to  devote  his  entire  income 
while  they  were  there  to  aiding  in  their  maintenance.  He  also 
made  a  forcible  speech  at  a  Kansas  relief  meeting,  held  in 
Detroit,  to  greet  G-ov.  Andrew  H.  Reeder,  on  June  2,  1850,  and 
then  headed  a  subscription  paper  for  the  aid  of  the  struggling 
Free  State  men  of  that  territory  with  the  sum  of  $10,000. 
Actions  and  utterances  of  this  kind  in  the  plastic  days  of  Michi 
gan  Republicanism  gave  to  it  that  resolute  and  robust  character 
which  has  been  the  source  of  its  power. 


FROM    1854    TO    1857.  121 

The  first  national  convention  of  the  Republican  party  was 
held  at  Pittsburg  on  the  22d  of  February,  1856,  under  a  call 
issued  by  the  chairmen  of  the  Republican  committees  of  Ohio, 
Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  Yermont,  Wisconsin,  and  Michigan. 
It  was  attended  by  delegates  representing  twenty  -  seven  States 
and  territories,  and  provided  for  the  national  organization  of  the 
Republican  party  by  creating  a  general  executive  committee  and 
calling  a  convention,  to  meet  at  Philadelphia  on  June  1Y,  to 
nominate  a  presidential  ticket.  Michigan  was  represented  at 
Pittsburg  by  a  delegation  of  eighteen,  headed  by  Zachariah 
Chandler,  and  including  Kinsley  S.  Bingham,  Jacob  M.  Howard, 
and  Fernando  C.  Beaman.  Mr.  Chandler  was  also  a  member  of 
the  committee  which  reported  the  plan  for  the  national  organiza 
tion  of  the  Republican  party,  and  he  participated  briefly  in  the 
debates  of  that  important  gathering.  The  Michigan  convention 
to  elect  delegates  to  Philadelphia  was  held  at  Ann  Arbor,  on 
March  8,  1856,  and  was  addressed  by  Mr.  Chandler  and  other 
prominent  Republicans.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia 
convention,  acting  as  an  alternate  for  Charles  T.  Gorham,  and, 
after  Fremont  was  nominated,  formally  promised  that  the  elect 
oral  vote  of  Michigan  should  be  given  for  the  ticket.  He  was 
there  made  the  member  for  his  State  of  the  first  Republican 
National  Committee.  The  Michigan  delegation  at  Philadelphia 
originally  supported  Mr.  Seward  for  the  presidency,  but  finally 
joined  in  the  movement  to  nominate  General  Fremont  on  the 
first  ballot.  For  the  vice  -  presidency  the  majority  of  the  dele 
gation  supported  William  L.  Dayton,  but  Mr.  Chandler,  with 
four  others,  voted  for  Abraham  Lincoln. 

In  the  following  campaign  Mr.  Chandler  was  among  the 
most  active  of  the  Republican  leaders.  He  aided  liberally  in 
the  work  of  organizing  the  party  throughout  the  State,  and 
spoke  at  Detroit  several  times,  and  at  Kalamazoo,  Lapeer, 
Port  Huron,  Adrian,  Coldwater,  and  other  of  the  important 


122  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

cities  and  towns  of  Michigan.  He  also  held  one  joint  discussion 
with  Alpheus  Felch,  at  Olivet,  on  October  16.  The  tone  of 
his  public  utterances  in  1856  will  appear  from  these  extracts 
from  his  speech  at  Kalamazoo  ( on  August  27 )  before  an 
immense  mass  -  meeting,  which  was  also  addressed  by  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  Jacob  M.  Howard : 

The  Republicans  of  Michigan  stand  by  the  constitution,  and  when  their 
defamers  proclaim  that  they  are  a  disunion  party,  as  they  do  so  often,  they 
publish  what  they  know  to  be  a  falsehood.  .  .  .  We  are  determined  to 
stand  by  the  constitution  in  all  its  parts,  and,  more  than  that,  to  make  our 
adversaries  stand  by  it  in  all  and  every  part.  .  .  .  Our  opponents  have 
ignored  this  constitution  with  but  a  single  exception.  And  what  is  that 
exception  ?  It  is  the  key  to  their  character  and  their  principles.  In  this 
whole  instrument  they  acknowledge  but  one  clause,  and  that  is  the  right  to 
reclaim  fugitive  slaves  from  their  hard-earned  freedom  ! 

We  intend  to  make  our  opponents  stand  by  this  clause:  "The  citizens 
of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  all  the  States."  But  how 
is  this  at  present  on  the  Missouri  ?  The  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  of  New 
Jersey,  of  Pennsylvania  or  of  Michigan,  if  they  but  presume  to  enter  Kansas, 
are  sent  back  with  a  guard  or  murdered  in  cold  blood,  while  the  citizens  of 
the  South  arc  aided  on  their  way  to  plant  in  that  beautiful  territory  the 
accursed  blight  of  slavery.  We  will  make  them  stand  by  the  constitution  in 
all  its  parts,  or,  by  the  Eternal,  we  will  have  a  different  state  of  things  here. 
The  oak  shall  bear  other  fruit  than  acorns  if  the  constitution  be  not  upheld. 

Here  is  another  clause  of  that  instrument  :  "  Congress  shall  make  no 
law  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech  or  the  press."  How  is  it  in  Kansas 
to-day  regarding  this?  If  any  man  shall  dare  to  deny  the  right  to  hold 
slaves  in  that  territory  he  is  imprisoned  for  a  term  of  five  }rears. 

Our  opponents  must  also  stand  by  this  clause  of  the  constitution  :  "A 
"well-regulated  militia  being  necessary  of  a  free  state,  the  right  of  the  people 
"to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be  infringed."  That  clause  of  the  constitu 
tion  is  trampled  under  foot,  and  the  Democratic  platform  in  sustaining  Pierce's 
administration  virtually  sustains  and  endorses  the  disgraceful  outrage. 

Here  is  another  clause:  "No  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or 
property  without  due  process  of  law."  The  whole  history  of  the  Kansas  mat 
ter  shows  how  shamefully  this  clause  has  been  rejected  by  those  who  uphold 
the  administration. 

There  are  but  two  candidates   for  the  Presidency  and  but  two  platforms. 
The  issue  —  the  only  issue  —  is  :    Shall  slavery  be  national  ?    Shall  it  be  under 
our  protection,  or  shall  it  be   under  the   protection   of   the   slave    States  only  ? 
The  whole  question  of  platforms  is  in   that.     It   is  the  only  question.     .     . 
The  policy  of   this  government   for    twenty  -  five   years   has   been   pro  -  slavery. 


FROM    1854    TO    1857.  123 

The  first  act  toward  breaking  that  policy  was  the  election  of  Banks  as 
Speaker  last  winter.  It  was  the  first  of  what  I  hope  will  be  a  series  of 
victories. 

A  few  years  ago  there  was  great  commotion  in  the  land.  We  were  told 
"the  Union  is  in  danger."  "What  shall  be  done?"  That  was  the  first  ques 
tion.  What  was  the  answer  of  the  men  in  power?  "Use  the  utmost  power 
of  the  government  ;  the  Union  must  be  saved."  Armed  men  went  through 
the  streets  of  Boston.  Troops  were  ordered  there  in  great  numbers.  Ships  of 
war  were  sent  to  Massachusetts  Bay.  What  was  the  terrible  danger  of  the 
Union  ?  There  was  a  Negro  lost  1  A  slave  had  run  away  !  A  poor  African 
had  escaped  from  his  master  and — lo,  the  Union  was  in  danger  !  "Use  all  the 
power  of  the  government  ;  the  laws  must  be  enforced."  Other  troops  were 
ordered  there.  The  militia  were  called  out.  They  surrounded  the  jail.  A 
sloop  of  war  was  sent.  Burns  was  borne  back  to  his  master  and  the  Union 
was  saved  ! 

There  came  a  later  cry,  "the  Union  is  in  danger."  This  time  it  was 
heard  from  bleeding  Kansas.  Armed  bands  were  committing  daily  depreda 
tions.  This  appeal  reached  the  government,  and  what  answer  is  made  by  the 
party  in  power?  "I  see  nothing  to  call  for  executive  interference."  "Noth 
ing?"  Yet  an  empire  is  being  crushed.  "Nothing?"  Yet  houses  are  being 
robbed  and  burned,  and  helpless  women  and  children  murdered!  "No  cause 
for  interference  ? "  The  reason  is  plain.  There  was  no  Negro  lost. 

Michigan  fulfilled  the  pledge  made  in  her  behalf  at  Phila 
delphia  by  Mr.  Chandler,  and  gave  to  the  Fremont  electors 
71,762  votes,  while  the  Buchanan  ticket  received  but  52,136  and 
the  Fillmore  strength  was  only  1,660.  The  Republicans  thus 
more  than  trebled  their  majority  of  1854,  and  in  this  year  car 
ried  all  of  the  four  Congressional  districts  of  the  State.  Their 
victory  in  the  legislative  districts  was  overwhelming,  and  they 
elected  twenty  -  nine  of  the  thirty  -  one  Senators,  and  sixty- 
three  of  the  eighty  Representatives.  The  term  of  Lewis  Cass 
as  Senator  of  the  United  States  expired  on  the  4th  of  the  fol 
lowing  March,  and  his  State  had  thus  decided  that  he  should 
give  place  to  a  representative  of  its  earnest  and  aggressive 
Republican  sentiment.  Mr.  Chandler  was  at  once  recognized  as 
the  leading  candidate  for  the  position  by  reason  of  his  positive, 
qualities,  his  personal  strength  with  the  business  classes  of  the 
State  and  the  masses  of  the  people,  and  his  prominence  as  a 


124  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

representative  of  the  strong  Whig  element  in  the  Republican 
ranks.  The  senatorial  canvass  was  an  earnest  one,  but  it  was 
from  the  outset  clear  that  Mr.  Chandler  was  the  first  choice  of 
decidedly  the  largest  number  of  legislators,  and  that  no  other 
man  possessed  his  popular  following.  Some  unavailing  efforts 
were  made  to  combine  against  him  the  friends  of  all  other  can 
didates,  but  the  fact  that  he  was  also  "  the  second  choice " 
of  many  members  defeated  this  plan,  and  the  Republican  caucus 
met  at  Lansing  on  January  8,  185T,  with  his  marked  lead  in 
the  contest  still  unimpaired.  Three  ballots  were  taken  at  its  first 
session,  the  third  giving  Mr.  Chandler  a  clear  majority  of  all 
the  votes  cast.  The  caucus  then  adjourned  until  the  following 
day,  when  he  received  a  still  stronger  support  on  the  fourth 
ballot  and  was  formally  nominated  on  the  fifth.  The  following 
is  the  record  of  the  balloting : 

FIRST   SESSION.  SECOND    SESSION. 


Zachariah  Chandler, 

First 
Informal 
Ballot. 

.     .     .     .         37 

Second 
Informal 
Ballot. 

45 

Third 
Informal 
Ballot. 

49 

Fourth 
Informal 
Ballot. 

54 

First 
Formal 
Ballot. 

80 

Isaac  P.  Christiancy,     . 
Austin  Blair,      
Moses  Wisner,       .     .     . 
Jacob  M.  Howard,      .     . 
Kinsley  S.  Bingham 

....       17 
...          18 
....      12 

3 

21 
7 
9 
6 

7 

22 
6 
10 
6 

2 

33 
3 

George  A.  Coe 

4 

James  V.  Campbell, 
Halmer  H    Emmons, 
Blank,      ....'.. 

....        1 

•• 

1 

1 

•• 

Scattering,      

... 

.  . 

8 

TOTAL, 92  95  96  91  88 

This  result  was  received  with  the  heartiest  enthusiasm  by 
the  Republicans,  and  the  caucus  greeted  its  nominee,  when  he 
came  before  it  to  return  his  thanks,  with  prolonged  cheering. 
The  scene  which  followed  has  been  thus  described  by  an  eye 
witness  :  *•  This  was  the  only  time  in  an  acquaintance  of  nearly 


FROM    1854    TO    1857.  125 

"  thirty  years  that  I  ever  saw  Mr.  Chandler  abashed.  When 
"  brought  before  the  caucus  he  trembled  with  emotion,  and  it 
"  was  several  minutes  before  he  could  compose  himself  to  even 
"  briefly  return  his  thanks.  He  has  often  said  that  it  was  the 
"  only  time  that  his  courage  and  nerve  absolutely  failed  him 
"  and  that  he  completely  broke  down.  The  rejoicing  was  so 
"  hearty  and  unselfish  that  it  overcame  him,  and  he  trembled 
"  like  a  child."  On  the  10th  of  January  the  two  branches  of 
the  Legislature  voted  for  Senator,  the  Democrats  complimenting 
General  Cass  with  their  ineffectual  votes.  The  record  of  the 
balloting  was  as  follows: 

SENATE.   HOUSE.   TOTAL. 

Zachariah  Chandler, 27  62  89 

Lewis  Cass, 2  14  16 

Blank,        1  1 

In  the  following  joint  convention  of  the  two  Houses  the 
resolution,  reciting  the  action  taken  separately  and  finally  record 
ing  Mr.  Chandler's  election,  was  adopted  without  any  dissent. 
Among  the  members  of  the  Legislature  whose  votes  made  him 
the  first  Republican  Senator  from  Michigan  were  Thomas  W. 
Ferry,  in  later  years  his  colleague  in  the  Senate,  Omar  D.  Con 
ger,  who  became  afterward  a  Republican  leader  in  the  lower 
branch  of  Congress,  and  George  Jerome,  a  most  intimate  political 
and  personal  friend  throughout  life. 

The  Senate  of  the  Thirty -fifth  Congress  met  in  special  session 
at  Washington,  on  March  4,  185Y,  Franklin  Pierce  having  con 
vened  it  at  the  request  of  his  successor,  who  was  inaugurated 
on  that  day.  The  names  upon  its  rolls  were  these : 

Clement  C.  Clay,  Jr.,  and  Benj.  Fitzpatrick,  of  Alabama; 

Robert  W.  Johnson  and  Wm.  K.  Sebastian,  of  Arkansas; 

David  C.  Broderick  and  Wm.  M.  Gwin,  of  California; 

J  ames  Dixon  and  Lafayette  S.  Foster,  of  Connecticut ; 

Martin  W.  Bates  and  James  A.  Bayard,  of  Delaware; 


126  ZACHAKIAH    CHANDLER. 

Stephen  R.  Mallory  and  David  L.  Yulee,  of  Florida; 
Alfred  Iverson  and  Eobert  Toombs,  of  Georgia ; 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  and  Lyman  Trumbull,  of  Illinois; 
Jesse  D.  Bright  and  Graham  K  Fitch,  of  Indiana; 
James  Harlan  and  Geo.  W.  Jones,  of  Iowa; 
John  J.  Crittenden  and  John  B.  Thompson,  of  Kentucky; 
Judah  P.  Benjamin  and  John   Slidell,  of  Louisiana; 
W.  P.  Fessenden  and  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine ; 
Anthony  Kennedy  and  James  A.  Pearce,  of  Maryland; 
Charles  Simmer  and  Henry  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts; 
Zachariah  Chandler  and  Chas.  E.  Stuart,  of  Michigan; 
Albert  G.  Brown  and  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi ; 
James  S.  Green  and  Trusten  Polk,  of  Missouri ; 
James  Bell  and  John  P.  Hale,  of  New  Hampshire ; 
John  R.  Thomson  and  William  Wright,  of  New  Jersey ; 
Preston  King  and  William  II.   Seward,  of  New  York; 
Asa  Biggs  and  David  S.  Reid,  of  North  Carolina ; 
Geo.  E.  Pugh  and  Benj.   F.  Wade,  of  Ohio; 
William  Bigler  and  Simon  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania ; 
Philip  Allen  and  James  F.   Simmons,  of  Rhode  Island ; 
Josiah  J.  Evans  and   Andrew  P.  Butler,  of  South  Carolina; 
John  Bell  and  Andrew  Johnson,  of  Tennessee ; 
Samuel  Houston  and  Thos.   J.  Rusk,  of  Texas ; 
Jacob  Collamer  and  Solomon  Foot,  of  Vermont ; 
R.  M.  T.  Hunter  and  James  M.  Mason,  of  Virginia ; 
James  R.  Doolittle  and  Charles  Durkee,  of  Wisconsin. 

This  Senate  met  in  the  old  chamber  now  occupied  by  the 
Supreme  Court,  but  around  which  then  clustered  fresh  memories 
of  Clay,  Webster,  Calhoun  and  their  cotemporaries.  The  Secre 
tary,  Asbury  Dickins,  called  the  body  to  order,  and  in  the 
absence  of  John  C.  Breckenridge,  Vice  -  President  elect,  James 
M.  Mason  of  Virginia  was  chosen  to  preside  temporarily.  After 
the  roll  was  called  of  the  members  with  unexpired  terms,  the 


128  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER. 

list  of  newly  -  elected  Senators  was  read.  As  they  responded  to 
their  names  they  advanced  to  the  front  of  the  presiding  officer's 
desk,  in  groups  of  four,  to  take  the  oath  of  office.  The  first 
group  were  Bates,  Bayard,  Bright  and  Broderick ;  the  second 
consisted  of  Simon  Cameron,  Zachariah  Chandler,  Jefferson  Davis 
and  James  Dixon.  This  scene  was  the  subject,  twenty -two 
years  later,*  of  the  most  effective  speech  ever  delivered  by  Mr. 
Chandler ;  probably  no  speech  ever  uttered  in  the  Senate  more 
thoroughly  touched  the  popular  heart  or  was  more  widely  read. 
Of  the  men  who  were  then  United  States  Senators,  parts  and 
witnesses  of  this  scene,  Fitzpatrick,  Sebastian,  Broderick,  Dixon, 
Bates,  Mallory,  Iverson,  Douglas,  Bright,  Crittenden,  Thompson, 
Slidell,  Fessenden,  Kennedy,  Pearce,  Sumner,  "Wilson,  Green, 
Hale,  Thomson,  Wright,  King,  Seward,  Pugh,  Wade,  Allen, 
Simmons,  Evans,  Butler,  John  Bell,  Jas.  Bell,  Andrew  Johnson, 
Houston,  Rusk,  Collamer,  Foot,  Mason  and  Durkee  (perhaps 
others)  preceded  Mr.  Chandler  to  the  grave.  Of  this  number, 
one  (Broderick)  was  killed  in  a  duel  and  two  committed  sui 
cide  ( Rusk  killed  himself  at  Nacogdoches,  Tex.,  on  July  29, 
1857,  and  Preston  King  on  August  15,  1865,  and  while  collector 
of  the  port  of  New  York,  jumped  heavily  weighted  into  the 
Hudson  river). 

Of  the  members  of  this  Senate  Hamlin,  "Wilson  (his  original 
name  was  Jeremiah  Jones  Colbath)  and  Johnson  became  Vice- 
Presidents,  and  Johnson,  on  the  death  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
became  President.  Mr.  Hamlin  was  the  only  one  still  in  the 
Senate  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Chandler's  death,  and  his  service  had 
not  been  continuous  but  was  broken  by  his  Yice  -  Presidential 
term.  Sons  of  Cameron  and  Bayard  were  in  1879  in  the  seats 
occupied  by  their  fathers  in  1857.  Seward  became  Secretary  of 
State,  Cameron  Secretary  of  War,  Fessenden  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  Harlan  and  Chandler  Secretaries  of  the  Interior. 

*  "The  Jeff.  Davis  speech,"  March  3,  1879. 


FROM    1854    TO    1857.  129 

Durkee  became  Governor  of  Utah,  Jones  Minister  to  Colombia 
"and  Cameron  Minister  to  Russia.  Jones  was,  on  his  return  from 
Colombia,  arrested  for  treason  and  confined  in  Fort  Warren. 
Bright  was  expelled  for  treasonable  correspondence  with  the 
enemy;  Polk  was  expelled  for  treason,  and  Sebastian,  who 
retired  from  the  Senate  when  Arkansas  seceded  from  the  Union, 
was  also  expelled,  but  after  the  war,  ample  proof  being  furnished 
that  he  was  and  always  remained  true  to  the  Union,  the  resolu 
tion  of  expulsion  was  rescinded.  Doolittle,  Trumbull,  Dixon  and 
Foster,  who  were  Republicans  in  1857,  afterward  joined  the 
Democracy,  and  Mr.  Seward  also  ceased  to  be  in  sympathy  with 
the  party  to  which  he  was  indebted  for  his  greatest  honors. 
Gwin  identified  himself  with  the  Confederacy,  then  became 
aide  to  the  unfortunate  Maximilian,  by  whom  he  was  created 
"  Duke  of  Sonora,"  and  is  back  again  at  Washington  as  a 
lobbyist.  Douglas  and  John  Bell  were  defeated  candidates  for 
the  Presidency  in  1860.  Houston  was  Governor  of  Texas  when 
the  ordinance  of  secession  passed  and  was  deposed  from  his 
office  by  the  disunion  convention. 

Jefferson  Davis,  who  swore  to  support  the  constitution  and 
the  Union  at  the  same  instant  with  Mr.  Chandler,  within  four 
years  rebelled  against  the  government  and  became  President  of 
the  so-called  ''Southern  Confederacy."  Slidell,  the  most  skilful 
of  the  disunion  leaders,  and  Mason  wTere  appointed  by  the  rebel 
government  Commissioners  to  Great  Britain,  and  while  on  their 
way  across  the  ocean  were  seized  by  Captain  Wilkes,  commanding 
the  United  States  steamer  San  Jacinto,  taken  from  the  British 
vessel  Trent,  and  carried  to  Boston  harbor,  where  they  were 
confined  in  Fort  Warren  on  a  charge  of  treason.  •  This  seizure 
the  Department  of  State  declined  to  uphold,  and  on  the  demand 
of  Great  Britain  the  "  embassadors "  were  released.  Slidell  died 
abroad  in  merited  obscurity.  Benjamin  became  Secretary  of  War 
of  the  Confederacy,  and  after  its  downfall  emigrated  to  England, 


130  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

became  a  British  citizen,  and  is  a  prosperous  lawyer  in  London. 
Toombs  was  Confederate  Secretary  of  State,  and  is  still  living 
in  Georgia,  crying  as  he  did  in  1861  u  death  to  the  Union." 
Mallory  was  Confederate  Secretary  of  the  Xavy,  and  for  a  time 
after  the  war  was  imprisoned  in  Fort  Lafayette.  Hunter  was 
also  Secretary  of  State  of  the  Confederacy ;  since  the  war  he 
has  been  Treasurer  of  Virginia,  but  with  the  political  revolution 
of  1879  retired  to  private  life  and  poverty.  Clay  was  a  Confed 
erate  Senator  and  diplomatic  agent ;  in  1865  he  was  imprisoned 
in  Fortress  Monroe.  Fitzpatrick  was  the  original  nominee  for 
Vice  -  President  on  the  Douglas  ticket  in  I860,  but  declined;  he 
became  a  rebel  but  without  prominence.  Robert  W.  Johnson 
was  a  Confederate  Senator  and  afterward  practiced  law  in  Wash 
ington.  Yulee  (whose  original  name  was  David  Levy)  retired 
from  the  Senate  to  join  the  Confederacy,  ceased  to  be  conspicu 
ous,  and  is  now  president  of  a  railroad  in  Florida.  Iverson  was 
a  Brigadier  -  General  in  the  rebel  army,  as  was  also  Toombs. 
Brown  was  Captain  in  the  Confederate  army  and  a  member 
of  the  Confederate  Senate.  Butler  died  during  the  following 
recess  of  Congress,  and  Evans,  his  colleague,  died  before  the 
war.  All  of  these  Southern  Senators,  who  retired  with  their 
States  in  1861  were  afterward  formally  expelled  from  the  Senate. 
When  Mr.  Chandler  entered  the  Senate  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  was  controlled  by  the  Democrats,  but  out  of  23-i 
members  ninety -two  were  filled  with  the  fresh  blood  of  the 
Republican  party.  Some  of  these  men  were  then  distinguished, 
and  others  have  become  so  since,  but  of  the  entire  number  of 
Representatives  only  twelve  yet  remain  in  either  branch  of 
Congress.  Henry  L.  Dawes  is  a  Senator  from  Massachusetts, 
Lafayette  Grover  from  Oregon,  Justin  S.  Merrill  from  Vermont, 
Z'^bulon  B.  Vance  from  North  Carolina,  George  II.  Pendleton 
from  Ohio,  and  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar  from  Mississippi.  Samuel  S. 
Cox,  a  Representative  from  Ohio  in  1857,  is  now  a  Representa- 


FROM    1854    TO    1357.  131 

tive  from  New  York.  Alex.  II.  Stephens  of  Georgia,  Alfred 
M.  Scales  of  North  Carolina,  John  II.  .Reagan  of  Texas,  Otho 
K.  Singleton  of  Mississippi,  and  John  D.  C.  Atkins  of  Tennes 
see  are  again  members  of  the  House.  Stephens  was  Vice- 
President  of  the  Confederacy;  Scales  was  Captain,  Colonel  and 
Brigadier  -  General  in  the  rebel  army ;  Singleton  was  Aid  -  de 
camp  to  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee;  and  Atkins  was  Lieutenant  -  Colonel 
of  the  Fifth  Confederate  Tennessee  regiment,  and  afterward  a 
member  of  the  Confederate  Congress. 

Others  who  were  members  of  the  House  in  1857  afterward 
added  to  the  reputations  they  then  enjoyed.  Schuyler  Colfax 
has  been  Vice  -  President.  A.  II.  Cragin,  R.  E.  Fenton,  Thomas 
L.  Clingman,  Frank  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  John  W.  Stevenson,  Edwin  D. 
Morgan,  Joshua  Hill,  and  George  S.  Houston  have  been  United 
States  Senators.  Israel  Washburn  has  been  Governor  of  Maine, 
John  Letcher  of  Virginia,  and  C.  C.  Washburn  of  Wisconsin. 
N.  P.  Banks  was  a  General  in  the  Union  army,  and  is  United 
States  Marshal  of  Massachusetts.  Daniel  E.  Sickles  was  also  a 
General  in  the  Union  army  and  afterward  Minister  to  Spain. 
Francis  E.  Spinner  was  for  many  years  Treasurer  of  the  United 
States.  John  Sherman  lias  been  a  Senator,  and  is  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury.  Elihu  B.  Washburne  was  Minister  to  France. 
John  A.  Bingham  is  Minister  to  Japan,  and  Horace  Maynard 
to  Turkey.  Anson  Burlingame  was  Minister  to  China,  and  after 
ward  the  embassador  of  that  empire  to  negotiate  treaties  with 
foreign  powers.  William  A.  Howard  is  Governor  of  Dakota, 
and  John  S.  Phelps  of  Missouri.  The  roll  of  the  dead  of  the 
Thirty -fifth  House  of  Representatives  far  exceeds  that  of  the 
living. 

Zachariah  Chandler  entered  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
with  an  abiding  faith  in  Northern  civilization  and  its  right  to 
supremacy,  with  a  wise  distrust  of  Southern  professions,  with  a 
just  hatred  of  institutions  poisoned  by  slavery,  with  a  determina- 


132  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

tion  to  attack  treason  wherever  found,  with  an  unquestioning 
belief  that  his  cause  was  right  and  its  defeat  impossible,  and  with 
as  resolute  a  spirit  as  ever  crossed  the  threshold  of  the  Senate 
chamber.  His  nature  was  without  an  atom  of  compromise,  and 
was  strong  in  the  rugged  qualities  of  courage,  honesty,  sincerity, 
firmness,  and  moral  intrepidity. 


CHAPTEE    VIII. 

THE    DEVELOPMENT     OF     THE     SOUTHERN    CONSPIRACY THE    ELECTION 

OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

'E.  OHANDLEE  became  a  Senator  of  the  United  States 
at  the  time  when  the  Southern  followers  of  John  C. 
Calhoun  had  determined  that  the  preservation  of  slavery 
was  impossible  without  disunion,  and  had  commenced 
preparations  for  that  desperate  measure  of  defense.  The  heavy 
vote  given  to  Fremont  in  the  North,  the  failure  of  the  attempt 
to  plant  slavery  in  Kansas,  the  widening  schism  in  the  Democ 
racy  itself  on  the  issue  of  slavery  -  extension,  and  the  certainty 
that  the  census  of  1860  would  greatly  increase  the  voting  power 
in  Congress  of  the  North  and  Northwest  —  all  made  it  plain 
that  the  South  could  not  re-inforce  its  waning  strength  with  new 
slave  States.  Its  leaders  saw  that  the  alternative  before  them 
was  a  systematic  repression  of  slavery  pointing  toward  its  ulti 
mate  extinction,  or  the  creation  of  a  new  government  pretending 
to  be  a  republic  but  "  with  its  foundations  laid,  its  corner-stone 
"  resting  upon,  the  great  truth  that  the  negro  is  not  equal  to 
"  the  white  man,  that  slavery,  subordination  to  the  superior  race, 
"  is  his  natural  and  normal  condition."  '  Every  civilized  instinct 
urged  them  to  assent  to  peaceful  and  gradual  emancipation,  but 
they  chose  the  alternative  of  disunion  from  a  belief  that  in  no 
other  way  could  the  political  ascendancy  so  long  enjoyed  by  the 
ruling  classes  of  the  South  be  maintained.  The  administration 
of  James  Buchanan  was  their  period  of  preparation.  Whatever 
of  needed  assistance  his  sympathy  failed  to  supply  was  furnished 


*  Speech  of  Alexander  H.  Stephens  at  Savannah  on  March  21,  1861,  after  his  election  to 
the  rebel  Vice-Presidency. 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

by  his  imbecility  of  purpose.  In  liis  Cabinet  and  in  federal 
offices  throughout  tlie  South  active  disunionists  plotted  and 
labored  to  make  all  things  ready  for  rebellion  and  unready  for 
its  suppression.  Chronic  compromisers,  Northern  believers  in 
slavery,  and  State  Rights  theorists  were  their  useful  allies.  In 
Congress  they  threatened  and  bullied,  and  month  by  month 
made  the  demands  of  slavery  more  arrogant  and  exacting, 
scheming  to  kindle  the  war  spirit  of  the  South  and  to  widen 
the  breach  between  the  sections,  until  they  could  offer  to  the 
Xorth  the  ultimatum  of  abject  surrender  to  the  slave  power  or 
disunion  and  civil  strife.  The  representatives  of  the  Xorth  at 
Washington  met  these  early  developments  of  treason  in  various 
moods ;  there  was  no  lack  among  them  of  those  who  were  inclined 
to  submit ;  there  were  many  who  disbelieved  in  the  reality  of 
the  purpose  underlying  Southern  vaporing  and  bluster,  and  this 
class  included  earnest  and  able  Republicans ;  but  there  were 
also  some  who  did  not  doubt  that  the  slave  power  would  try 
secession  before  accepting  defeat,  and  who,  yielding  not  one  inch 
of  the  right  to  menaces,  proposed  to  treat  disunion,  whether 
threatened  or  attempted  as  treason  and  to  denounce  and  resist 
it  as  such. 

Early  in  his  Senatorial  career  Mr.  Chandler  became  convinced 
that  the  purpose  of  rebellion  was  a  well -denned  one  at  the 
South,  that  preparations  to  make  it  successful  were  in  active 
progress,  and  that  the  longer  the  crisis  was  delayed  the  more 
difficult  would  be  the  task  of  its  suppression.  Between  1857 
and  1861  his  comments  to  his  intimate  friends  on  the  outlook 
were  exceedingly  gloomy,  and  he  often  declared  that  he  saw  no 
possible  escape  from  war.  If  the  government  was  to  be  main 
tained  on  the  basis  on  which  it  was  founded  and  was  not  to  be 
revolutionized  in  the  interest  of  slavery,  he  believed  that  an 
armed  conflict  with  the  men  who  had  determined  to  change  its 
character  was  inevitable.  He  did  not  underestimate  their  am 
bition,  their  desperateness  of  purpose,  or  their  readiness  for 


THE    WAR    CLOUD.  135 

violence.  But  neither  in  public  nor  in  private  did  he  quail 
before  them  in  any  degree,  and  his  only  plan  of  action  was  the 
simple,  straight  -  forward  and  characteristic  one  of  meeting  their 
threats  with  defiance  and  their  treason  with  all  the  force  required 
for  its  punishment.  In  a  time  of  vacillation,  feebleness  and 
moral  cowardice,  and  while  he  was  still  new  in  the  Senate  and 
hampered  by  his  own  inexperience  and  the  usages  of  that  body, 
what  he  did  say  and  all  his  acts  and  influence  were  important 
contributions  to  that  invigorating  of  Northern  sentiment  which 
the  times  so  greatly  demanded  and  which  alone  made  possible 
the  national  uprising  of  1801. 

As  a  matter  of  record,  the  first  time  Zachariah  Chandler's 
voice  was  heard  in  the  Senate  chamber,  he  asked  that  u(  Cornelius 
"  O'Flynn  have  leave  to  withdraw  his  memorial  and  papers  from 
"  the  files  of  the  Senate."  The  first  caucus  he  attended  was  that 
in  which  the  Republican  minority  decided  to  make  a  vigorous 
protest  against  the  unfairness  of  its  treatment  in  the  appointment 
of  the  Senate  committees  of  the  Thirty  -  fifth  Congress.  In  his 
first  speech  he  added,  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  to  the  protest 
of  his  party  an  equally  vigorous  remonstrance  against  the  com 
plete  ignoring  of  the  commercial  importance  of  the  Northwest  in 
the  selection  of  members  of  the  Committee  on  Commerce.  In 
his  second  speech  (on  the  proposition  to  increase  the  army)  lie 
snid  in  significant  language:  u  If  they  will  show  to  me  that  they 
"  require  a  force  in  Utah  to  put  down  rebellion  I  will  vote  for 
"  it,  I  care  not  whether  it  be  one  regiment  or  one  hundred 
11  regiments."  His  first  prepared  address  in  the  Senate  was 
delivered  on  the  12th  day  of  March,  1858,  and  had  as  its  theme 
that  most  reckless  of  the  slave  power's  efforts  at  self -extension, 
the  attempt  to  force  upon  Kansas  what  was  known  as  the 
Lecompton  constitution. 

This  was  a  pro -slavery  instrument,  framed  by  a  constitutional 
convention  elected  and  controlled  by  Border  -  Ruffians,  apparently 
ratified  at  an  election  whose  managers  allowed  no  one  to  vote 


ZACHAR1AH    CHANDLER. 

against  it  but  only  to  vote  for  it  with  slavery  or  for  it  without 
slavery  ( even  the  "  without "  was  fraudulent,  because  property  in 
slaves  already  in  Kansas  was  in  any  event  guaranteed  until 
186-t),  and  overwhelmingly  rejected  at  the  only  election  which 
in  any  degree  fairly  represented  the  opinions  of  the  genuine 
settlers  of  the  territory.  Mr.  Chandler's  speech  on  this  topic, 
the  absorbing  one  of  that  day,  was  prepared  with  much  care  and 
delivered  from  manuscript.  Portions  of  it  were  read  to  Senators 
Cameron,  Wade  and  Ilamlin  before  it  was  uttered.  While  it  was 
spoken  with  the  impulsive  manner  that  generally  characterized 
his  speeches,  it  was  the  result  of  long  deliberation  and  of  such 
careful  study  of  phraseology  as  was  necessary  to  make  it  explicit 
and  forcible.  It  was  listened  to  by  a  large  audience.  Mr. 
Chandler  had  in  private  conversation  spoken  with  much  vigor 
of  the  duty  of  the  Republican  party  in  case  the  Lecompton 
constitution  of  Kansas  was  accepted  and  the  new  State  admitted 
under  that  instrument,  and  his  remarks  had  been  freely  quoted. 
His  reputation  for  radicalism  of  opinion  and  plainness  of  speech 
had  also  reached  Washington,  and  there  was  a  general  interest 
felt  in  his  first  prepared  address.  Tie  began  speaking  about 
fifteen  minutes  after  the  Senate  was  called  to  order  (  iji  the 
chamber  now  occupied  by  the  Supreme  Court)  and  held  the 
floor  for  .nearly  three  hours.  The  spectators  included  many 
members  of  the  House,  among  them  John  Sherman,  since  Sen 
ator  and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Alexander  II.  Stephens, 
afterward  Vice  -  President  of  the  Confederacy,  and  John  A. 
Logan,  now  well-known  as  both  soldier  and  Senator.  The  address 
was  one  of  power  and  was  attended  by  marked  effect.*  It  con- 


*  Of  this  speech  the  New  York  Courier  and  Enquirer  said:  ''Tlio  speech  of  Mr. 
"Chandler  on  the  12. h  places  him  among  the  first  debaters  of  the  country.  No  more 
"unanswerable  exposition  of  the  usurpation  in  Kansas  has  been  made."  The  Chicago 
Tribune  said  :  "  Mr.  Chandler  made'  his  first  formal  speech  in  the  Senate  to-day.  That 
"body  paid  him  the  compliment  of  unwavering  attention  through  the  whole  of  his  able 
'and  effective  speech.  The  passage  in  which  he  described  the  murder  of  Brown,  Barbour 
"and  Gay  .  .  .  excited  the  sympathies  and  passions  of  his  audience  to  a  pitch  rarely 
"observed  in  parliamentary  debate." 


THE    WAR    CLOUD.  137 

tained  this  description    of    the  fate  of   three  Michigan  emigrants 
to  Kansas  : 

Men  have  been  hunted  down  by  sheriffs  and  by  pastes  from  other  States, 
by  border -ruffians  —  everywhere  'under  the  color  of  law.  Sir,  the  State  of 
Michigan  has  over  a  thousand  of  her  people  in  Kansas  to  -  day.  Three  of  her 
citizens,  and  many  other  good  men,  have  been  murdered  in  cold  blood.  Two 
of  them,  Barbour  and  Brown,  I  know  were  as  good  men  as  can  be  found  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  The  other — Gay  —  was  Mr.  Pierce's  Land  Agent  for 
the  territory.  He  was  a  Nebraska  pro  -  slavery  Democrat.  He  was  met  one 
day,  with  his  son,  on  the  road,  and  asked  whether  he  was  for  Free -Slate  or 
pro -slavery.  He  had  become  a  little  Free  -  Statish  in  his  views,  and,  not 
dreaming  of  danger,  he  said:  "I  am  a  Free -State  man,"  and  he  was  shot 
down,  and  his  son,  in  attempting  to  defend  his  father,  received  a  bullet  in 
his  hip,  and  is  now  a  cripple  in  Michigan.  I  speak  with  some  feeling.  My 
own  constituents,  my  own  people,  have  been  brutally  murdered,  and  I  should 
be  recreant  to  my  trust  if  I  did  not  speak  with  feeling  on  this  subject.  I 
know  the  men  from  Michigan  who  are  in  Kansas  to  be  as  good  men  as  can 
be  found  within  these  United  States,  and  when  any  one  says  the  emigrants 
from  Michigan  to  the  territory  of  Kansas  are  picked  from  the  purlieus  of 
cities  I  tell  him  he  knows  nothing  about  the  subject  and  that  it  is  not  true. 
They  are  as  good  men  as  the  State  of  Michigan  produces  ;  they  are  honest 
and  brave  ;  they  know  their  rights  and,  knowing,  dare  defend  them. 

But  those  parts  of  the  speech  which  most  thoroughly  stirred 
his  hearers  and  fell  witli  unaccustomed  force  on  ears  which 
rarely  heard  such  defiant  tones,  were  these : 

I  cannot  permit  this  bill  to  pass  without  protest.  It  was  conceived  and 
execute;!  in  fraud.  .  .  .  It  is  one  of  the  series  of  aggressions  on  the  part 
of  the  slave  power  which,  if  permitted  to  be  consummated,  must  end  in  the 
subversion  of  the  constitution  and  the  Union.  ...  It  strikes  a  death  -  blow 
at  State  sovereignty  and  popular  rights.  .  .  .  When  Missouri  applied  for 
admission  as  a  slave  State  .  .  .  the  North  objected.  They  declared  it  was 
agreed  to  that  no  more  slave  States  should  be  admitted  into  the  Union.  .  .  . 
Agitation  ran  high.  The  South  then  as  now  threatened  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union.  The  North  then  as  now  denied  her  power  to  dissolve  it.  ... 
During  this  excitement  the  hearts  of  brave  men  quailed.  ...  A  new  com 
promise  was  made.  .  .  .  As  a  part  of  this  compromise  slavery  Avas  forever 
prohibited  north  of  36°  30'.  .  .  .  The  compromise  was  acquiesced  in.  .  .  . 
Peace  again  reigned  through  the  land,  .  .  .  and  this  peace  continued  until 
the  discovery  of  the  new  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty.  .  This  is 

called  a  new  compromise.      .      .      .     We  are   told  we   must   accept   it  because 
the  Union   is   in    danger.      .      -      .     But  that  set    of    people  who  have  been  in 


138  ZACHARIAH   CHANDLER. 

labor  and  suffering  and  trial  for  so  long  a  time  on  account  of  the  Union  have 
passed  off  the  stage.  In  their  places  are  men  who  love  this  glorious  Union 
and  love  it  as  it  was  made  by  the  fathers  ;  men  who  will  not  whine  "danger 
to  the  Union,"  but  brave  men  who  will  tight  for  this  Union  lo  the  death. 
The  old  women  of  the  North  who  have  been  in  the  habit  of  crying 
out  "the  Union  is  in  danger"  have  passed  off  the  stage.  They  are  dead. 
Their  places  will  never  be  supplied,  but  in  their  stead  we  have  a  race  of  men 
who  are  devoted  to  this  Union  and  devoted  to  it  as  Jefferson  and  the  fathers 
made  it  and  bequeathed  it  to  us. 

Any  aggression  upon  the  constitution  has  been  submitted  to  by  the  race 
who  have  gone  off  the  stage.  They  were  ready  to  compromise  any  principle, 
any  thing.  The  men  of  the  present  day  are  a  different  race.  They  will 
compromise  nothing  ;  they  are  Union  -  loving  men  ;  they  love  all  portions  of 
the  Union  ;  and  they  will  sacrifice  anything  but  principle  to  save  it.  They 
will,  however,  make  no  sacrifice  of  principle.  Never  !  Never  !  No  more 
compromises  will  ever  be  submitted  to  to  save  the  Union  !  If  it  is  worth 
saving,  it  will  be  saved  ;  but  if  you  sap  and  undermine  its  foundations  it 
must  topple.  It  will  be  the  legitimate  result  of  your  own  action.  The  on\y 
way  that  we  ever  shall  save  this  Union  and  make  it  as  permanent  as  the 
everlasting  hills  will  be  by  restoring  it  to  the  original  foundations  upon  which 
the  fathers  placed  it. 

The  people  of  Kansas  are  almost  unanimously  opposed  to  this  constitution  ; 
yet  you  propose  to  force  it  upon  them  without  their  consent.  It  cannot  be 
done.  The  government  has  not  bayonets  enough  to  force  a  constitution  upon 
the  necks  of  any  unwilling  people.  .  .  .  It  is  our  purpose  to  avoid  the 
shedding  of  blood  upon  the  soil  of  the  United  States  by  civil  war.  While  I 
will  not  charge  on  the  supporters  of  the  Lecompton  constitution  the  purpose, 
in  civil  war,  of  shedding  blood  upon  the  soil  of  the  United  States,  I  do  charge 
that  they,  and  they  alone,  will  be  responsible  for  every  drop  of  blood  that 
may  be  shed  in  consequence  of  the  adoption  of  that  constitution.  I  trust  in 
God  civil  war  will  never  come  ;  but  if  it  should  come,  upon  their  heads,  and 
theirs  alone,  will  rest  the  responsibility  of  every  drop  that  may  flow.  I  trust  in 
God  that  this  question  will  never  be  pushed  to  that  extremity,  for  I  would 
have  less  respect  for  the  people  of  Kansas  than  I  now  have  if  I  supposed 
they  would  tamely  submit  to  have  a  constitution  thrust  down  their  throats 
without  authority  of  law,  and  against  law,  without  making  resistance.  I 
would  disown  them  as  the  descendants  of  the  men  who  fought  our  revolution 
ary  battles  if  I  did  not  think  they  would  resist  any  illegal  attempts  to  force 
a  constitution  upon  them. 

A  speech  of  such  vigor  of  opinion  was  not  without  marked 
effect.  There  was  a  disposition  among  the  less  radical  Republi 
cans  to  rate  it  as  imprudent,  and  there  were  some  attempts  at 
rebuking  Mr.  Chandler  for  being  so  outspoken.  He  received 


THE    WAR    CLOUD.  13i> 

these  criticisms  good  -  humoredly,  but  felt  confident  of  his  position 
and  constantly  defended  it.  The  effect  of  his  demonstration  on 
the  Democratic  side  was  marked ;  the  new  Senator  from  Michi 
gan  surprised  his  political  opponents  by  the  directness  and  force 
of  his  attack,  but  won  from  them  the  respect  always  accorded  to 
boldness  and  candor.  Mr.  Chandler  also  showed  spirit  on  little 
as  well  as  great  occasions.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  following 
April,  the  DGmocrats  attempted  to  coerce  the  Republicans  into 
voting  upon  the  same  bill  for  the  admission  of  Kansas.  With 
out  any  ill -temper,  but  with  no  lack  of  earnestness,  Mr.  Chandler 
arose,  and  said  :  "  I  understand  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  to 
"  say  that  no  adjournment  shall  take  place  until  this  question  is 
"  disposed  of.  If  that  is  their  determination  I  can  assure  them 
"that  no  adjournment  will  take  place  until  the  7th  of  June. 
"When  I  say  that  no  adjournment  will  take  place  until  that 
"time,  I  mean  what  I  say.  I  propose  to  take  a  recess  until  9 
"  o'clock,  and  I  advise  gentlemen  to  bid  farewell  to  their  families 
"for  thirty  days  at  least." 

In  1858  fuel  was  added  to  the  anti  -  slavery  flame  by  the 
Dred  Scott  decision,  in  which  the  majority  of  the  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court  affirmed,  that  as  a  matter  of  history  the  negroes 
at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  constitution  "  had  no 
rights  which  the  white  man  was  bound  to  respect,"  that  as  a 
principle  of  law  neither  emancipated  slaves  nor  the  emancipated 
descendants  of  slaves  were  entitled  to  claim  the  rights  and 
privileges  which  the  constitution  provides  for  and  secures  to 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  that  under  a  correct  constitu 
tional  construction  acts  excluding  slavery  from  the  territories 
were  without  validity.  This  utterance  was  rendered  especially 
obnoxio  is  by  the  fact  that  the  court,  while  leaving  Dred  Scott 
in  slavery  on  the  ground  that  the  United  States  tribunals  had 
no  jurisdiction  in  his  case,  practically  asserted  jurisdiction  for  the 
purpose  of  deciding  (outside  of  the  real  issues  of  the  trial  as 


140  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

limited  by  its  own  finding)  that  Congress  could  not  exclude 
slavery  from  the  territories.  In  reference  to  this  decision  Mr. 
Chandler  said  in  the  Senate  on  the  17th  of  February,  1859  : 

What  did  General  Jackson  do  when  the  Supreme  Court  declared  the 
United*States  Bank  constitutional  V  Did  he  bow  in  deference  to  the  opinion 
of  the  court  ?  No,  ...  he  said  he  would  construe  the  constitution  for 
himself,  that  he  was  sworn  to  do  it.  I  shall  do  the  same  thing.  I  have  sworn 
to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  I  have  sworn  to  support 
it  as  the  fathers  made  it  and  not  as  the  Supreme  Court  have  altered  it.  And 
I  never  will  swear  allegiance  to  that. 

In  October,  185D,  u  Old  John  Brown  "  made  his  memorable 
attempt  to  liberate  the  enslaved  negroes  of  the  South  by  the 
descent  npon  Harper's  Ferry.  The  rashness  of  his  unaided 
attack  on  a  giant  wrong  is  protected  from  ridicule  by  a  heroism 
worthy  of  Thermopylae  and  by  a  death  which  Sidney's  last  hours 
did  not  surpass  in  moral  grandeur.  Mr.  Chandler,  with  deep 
respect  for  Brown's  motives  and  the  unique  simplicity  of  his 
character,  was  earnest  in  condemnation  of  his  methods  and  of 
the  utter  foolhardiness  of  his  effort.  Congress  was  not  in  session 
when  Brown  seized  Harper's  Ferry  and  convulsed  Virginia  with 
fright,  and  Mr.  Chandler  was  not  in  Washington.  When  Congress 
did  meet  in  December,  Brown  had  just  been  hanged,  and  the 
excitement  was  still  feverish.  A  Senate  committee,  consisting  of 
Mason  of  Virginia,  Jefferson  Davis,  Fitch  of  Indiana,  Democrats, 
and  Collamer  and  Doolittle,  Republicans,  was  at  once  appointed 
to  investigate  the  raid,  and  while  the  resolution  providing  for  it 
was  under  consideration  Mr.  Chandler  made  one  of  his  telling 
speeches.  In  it  he  thus  ridiculed  "the  reign  of  terror"  at  the 
South  : 

Senators  ask  us  why  we  have  no  sympathy  with  Virginia  in  this  instance. 
Sir,  we  do  not  understand  this  case  at  all.  What  are  the  facts  ?  Seventeen 
white  men  and  five  unwilling  negroes  surround  and  capture  a  town  of  2,000 
people,  with  a  United  States  armory,  any  quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition, 
and  with  300  men  employed  in  it  — as  I  am  informed,  employed  in  it 
under  a  civil  officer  — and  hold  it  for  two  days.  These  I  understand  to  be 


THE    WAR    CLOUD.  141 

the  facts,  and  you  ask,  Why  have  we  not  sympathy  ?  We  do  not  understand 
any  such  case  as  that.  The  Senator  from  Mississippi  ( Mr.  Brown )  asks,  What 
would  we  s*iy  if  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  were  to  attack  the  armory  at 
Springfield  ?  I  do  not  know  what  is  the  population  of  Springfield,  but  I  will 
guarantee  if  any  seventeen  or  twenty -two  of  the  Generals  ...  of  the  States 
of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  were  to  attack  Springfield,  if  there  was  not  a 
man  within  five  miles  of  there,  the  women  would  bind  them  in  thirty  minutes 
and  would  not  ask  sympathy  and  the  matter  would  not  be  deemed  of  sufficiem 
importance  to  ask  for  a  committee  of  investigation  on  the  part  of  the  corpora 
tion.  Why,  sir,  Governor  Wise  compared  the  people  of  Harper's  Ferry  to 
sheep,  as  the  public  press  state.  That  is  a  libel  on  the  sheep.  For  I  never  saw 
a  flock  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  sheep  in  my  life  that  had  not  a  belligerent  ram 
among  them.  We  do  not  understand  any  such  panic  as  this.  If  seventeen  or 
one  hundred  men  were  to  attack  a  town  of  the  size  of  Harper's  Ferry  any 
where  throughout  the  region  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  they  would  simply 
be  put  in  jail  in  thirty  minutes,  and  then  they  would  be  tried  for  their  crimes 
and  they  would  be  punished  and  there  would  be  no  row  made  about  it. 

The  pointed  passage  of  the  speech  was  the  one  in  which  he 
thanked  a  Southern  Governor  for  demonstrating  so  conspicuously 
that  treason  was  a  crime  punishable  by  death.  He  said . 

I  am  iii  favor  of  the  resolution  because  the  first  execution  for  treason 
that  has  ever  occurred  in  the  United  States  has  just  taken  place.  John  Brown 
has  been  executed  as  a  traitor  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  I  want  it  to  #> 
upon  the  records  of  the  Senate  in  the  most  solemn  manner  to  be  held  up  as 
a  warning  to  traitors,  come  they  from  the  North,  South,  East  or  West.  Dare 
to  raise  your  impious  hands  against  this  government,  its  constitution  and  its 
laws — and  you  hang  !  .  Threats  have  been  made  year  after  year  for 

the  last  thirty  years,  that  if  certain  events  happen  this  Union  will  be  dissolved. 
It  is  no  small  matter  to  dissolve  this  Union.  It  means  a  bloody  revolution 
or  it  means  a  halter.  It  means  the  successful  overturn  of  this  government  or 
it  means  the  fate  of  John  Brown,  and  I  want  that  to  go  solemnly  on  the 
record  of  this  Senate  ! 

These  were  the  speeches  of  a  man  untried  in  public  life  and 
still  in  the  early  years  of  his  first  Congressional  term.  The 
Senate  which  lie  thus  addressed  listened  also  to  Charles  Sumner's 
magnificent  philippics  —  blows  "  struck  Avith  the  club  of  Hercules 
entwined  with  flowers,"  to  the  philosophic  eloquence  of  Seward 
in  his  moral  prime,  to  Wade's  sturdy  fearlessness  of  speech,  to 
the  wit  of  Hale,  and  to  the  vigorous  oratory  of  Fessenden.  But 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER 

no  niiui  measured  more  accurately  than  Zachariah  Chandler  the 
political  forces  of  that  day,  no  man  branded  the  hatching 
treason  with  his  blunt  precision  and  homely  power,  and  no  man 
asserted  with  more  boldness  the  courage  and  the  purpose  of  the 
North.  In  that  hour  resolute  words  were  useful  in  themselves; 
but  the  lapse  of  twenty  years  has  shown  that  Mr.  Chandler  was 
then  as  clear-sighted  as  he  was  intrepid  in  spirit  and  plain  in 
speed  i. 

This  unsparing  denunciation  of  treason  to  plotting  traitors 
was  not  without  personal  peril,  lir.  Chandler  became  a  Senator 
at  a  time  when  the  South  had  unleashed  its  brutality  at  Wash 
ington  and  regarded  resistance  to  its  demands  as  justifying 
violence  and  insult.  Horace  Greeley,  while  visiting  Washing 
ton,  was  assaulted  and  injured  in  the  Capitol  grounds  by  Rust 
of  Arkansas,  on  account  of  some  criticisms  in  the  Tribune  on 
Congressional  action.  Preston  Brooks  committed  (on  the  22d  of 
May,  1850)  his  assault  on  Charles  Simmer  in  the  Senate  chamber, 
a  crime  which  was  publicly  upheld  by  Toombs,  Slidell,  Davis 
and  other  Southern  leaders,  and  which  led  South  Carolina  to 
unanimously  re-elect  the  ruffian  to  the  House  when  lie  resigned 
after  the  adoption  of  a  vote  of  censure.  Henry  Wilson's  denun 
ciation  of  this  attack  upon  his  colleague  as  "  brutal,  murderous, 
and  cowardly"  was  followed  by  a  challenge  from  Brooks,  to 
which  he  responded  by  arming  himself  and  by  a  note  declaring 
that  while  he  repudiated  the  duelling  code  he  "  religiously 
believed  in  the  right  of  self-defense  in  the  broadest  sense." 
John  Woodruff,  a  Connecticut  Representative,  having  stigmatized 
Brooks's  act  as  a  "  mean  achievement  of  cowardice,"  was  tendered 
a  duelling  challenge  which  he  declined  to  receive.  Anson  Bur- 
lingame  pursued  another  course.  Of  the  assault  on  the  Massa 
chusetts  Senator,  he  said :  u  I  denounce  it  in  the  name  of  the 
"constitution  it  violates.  I  denounce  it  in  the  name  of  the 
"sovereignty  of  Massachusetts,  which  was  stricken  down  by  the 


THE    WAR    CLOUD.  143 

"blow.  I  denounce  it  in  the  name  of  humanity.  I  denounce  it 
"in  the  name  of  civilization,  which  it  outraged.  I  denounce  it 
"  in  the  name  of  that  fair  play  which  bullies  and  prize  -  fighters 
"respect."  To  this  the  response  was  a  challenge  from  Brooks, 
which  Mr.  Burlmgame  accepted,  and,  selecting  Canada  as  the 
spot  for  the  meeting,  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  represent 
ative  of  South  Carolina  chivalry  refuse  to  abide  by  the  code  he 
had  himself  invoked.  William  McKee  Dunn,  of  Indiana,  was 
challenged  by  Rust,  of  Arkansas,  for  words  spoken  in  the  House, 
and,  naming  "  rifles  at  sixty  paces "  as  the  weapons,  learned  that 
such  was  not  the  "  satisfaction  "  desired  by  Southern  "  gentlemen.'' 
Owen  Love-joy  denounced  the  crimes  of  slavery  in  front  of  the 
Speaker's  desk  in  the  House,  with  the  fists  of  angry  Southerners 
shaking  in  his  face,  and  amid  their  yells  and  threats.  Potter,  of 
Wisconsin,  cooled  off  the  hot  blood  of  Roger  A.  Pryor  by 
accepting  his  duelling  challenge  and  selecting  bowie-knives  as 
the  weapons.  Amid  all  this  there  was  much  chronic  servility 
among  Northern  members  to  Southern  insolence,  which  gave 
pungent  force  to  Thaddeus  Stevens's  sarcasm  (uttered  during  the 
prolonged  contest  over  the  Speakership  of  the  Thirty -sixtli 
Congress)  that  he  could  not  blame  the  South  for  trying  intimi 
dation,  for  they  had  "  tried  it  fifty  times  and  fifty  times,  and 
had  always  found  weak  and  recreant  tremblers  in  the  North." 
Mr.  Chandler  entered  the  Senate  with  the  firm  resolution  that 
he  would  not  be  bullied,  that  he  would  not  submit  to  bluster, 
and  that  if  occasion  came  he  would  fight  without  hesitation.  His 
decision  did  not  spring  from  love  of  quarrel  or  mere  passion,  but 
was  the  fruit  of  mature  reflection  and  was  based  upon  a  clear 
purpose.  He  saw  that  the  Southerners  in  Congress  vapored  and 
threatened  for  effect;  that  they  believed  that  Northern  men 
would  not  fight,  and  that  they  would  be  permitted  to  offer 
unlimited  insults  without  arousing  resentment.  The  public  senti 
ment  of  the  North  was  against  duelling  or  fisticuffs,  and  the 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Southerners  supposed  —  and  sincerely  —  that  this  was  the  result 
of  cowardice  and  not  of  conscience.  This  condition  of  opinion 
was  of  decided  assistance  to  the  conspirators  who  were  plotting 
disunion  at  the  South,  and  the  stigma  of  pusillanimity  was  the 
source  of  no  little  practical  weakness  with  the  North.  Under  these 
circumstances  Mr.  Chandler  fully  determined  —  as  did  Mr.  Wade, 
Mr.  Hamlin,  Mr.  Cameron,  and  one  or  two  other  Senators  — 
that  if  occasion  offered,  so  that  justice  should  be  clearly  upon 
his  side,  he  would  tight.  This  was  a  deliberate  purpose,  not 
reached  through  any  admiration  for  fighting  men,  nor  through 
belief  in  force  as  a  method  of  argument,  but  from  a  convic 
tion  that  the  moral  effect  of  such  a  demonstration  of  the  personal 
courage  of  Northern  representatives  would  be  of  service  to  the 
nation.  Mr.  Chandler  knew  himself  to  be  physically  capable  of 
meeting  almost  any  assailant ;  he  prepared  himself  for  a  collision 
by  muscular  exercise  and  the  practice  of  marksmanship,  and, 
while  he  did  not  seek,  he  made  no  effort  to  avoid,  an  encounter. 
On  February  5,  1858,  there  was  a  personal  altercation  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  between  Galusha  A.  Grow,  of  Penn 
sylvania,  afterward  Speaker,  and  Lawrence  M.  Keitt,  of  South 
Carolina,  who  was  killed  in  battle,  during  the  rebellion,  at  the 
head  of  a  Confederate  brigade.  Mr.  Harris  of  Illinois,  an  Anti- 
Nebraska  Democrat,  had  offered  a  resolution  for  the  appointment 
of  a  committee  to  ascertain  by  an  investigation  whether  the 
Lecompton  constitution  was  the  work  in  any  just  sense  of  the 
people  of  Kansas.  Coming  from  such  a  source,  the  resolution 
would  have  received  a  majority  of  votes  in  the  House,  but  its 
opponents  resorted  to  parliamentary  stratagem  to  prevent  its 
passage,  "  filibustering "  for  several  hours.  Amid  the  attending 
excitement  there  was  a  very  heated  colloquy  between  Grow  and 
Keitt,  which  ended  in  blows  on  both  sides,  Keitt  being  the  first 
to  strike.  Grow  resisted,  and  a  general  melee  followed  which 
was  participated  in  by  many  members.  The  affair  was  afterward 


THE    WAR    CLOUD.  145 

adjusted,  and  both  apologized  to  the  House  but  without  apolo 
gizing  to  each  other.  This  occurrence  impressed  Mr.  Chandler 
deeply,  and,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  it,  lie  went  to  the  Hall  of 
Representatives,  and  assured  Mr.  Grow  of  his  approval  and  his 
readiness  to  render  any  desired  aid.  It  was  the  first  outbreak  of 
the  kind  which  came  within  his  personal  observation,  and  con 
firmed  him  in  his  belief  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Northern 
minority  to  resist  all  encroachments  upon  their  personal  and 
official  rights.  Not  long  afterward  a  colloquy  occurred  in  the 
Senate  between  Simon  Cameron  and  Senator  Green  of  Missouri, 
in  which  the  lie  was  given,  and  only  the  prompt  interference 
of  Yice  -  President  Breckenridge,  who  was  in  the  chair,  prevented 
a  personal  altercation.  The  Democrats  were  insisting  upon  a 
vote  upon  the  bill  to  admit  Kansas  under  the  Lecompton  consti 
tution,  while  the  Republicans  were  endeavoring  to  secure  longer 
time  for  debate.  It  was  about  -t  o'clock  in  the  morning  when 
the  offensive  words  were  exchanged.  Vice -President  Brecken- 

O 

ridge  at  once  rappad  with  his  gavel,  and  commanded  both  Green 
and  Cameron  to  take  their  seats.  After  order  had  been  restored, 
Senator  Green  continued  his  remarks,  and,  referring  to  Cameron, 
said :  "  I  will  not  use  a  harsh  word  now ;  it  will  be  out  of 
"  order.  But  if  I  get  out  of  this  Senate  chamber  I  shall  use  a 
"  harsh  word  in  his  ( Cameron's )  teeth,  for  there  no  rule  of  order 
"  will  correct  me.  ...  As  to  any  question  of  veracity 
"  between  that  Senator  and  myself,  in  five  minutes  after  the 
"Senate  adjourns  we  can  settle  it."  Mr.  Cameron's  reply  was: 
"I  desire  to  say,  if  these  remarks  are  .intended  as  a  threat,  they 
have  no  effect  upon  me."  The  debate  was  continued  at  length, 
but  a  small  group  of  Senators  was  soon  after  seen  in  earnest 
conference  in  a  cloak-room.  It  was  composed  of  Senators 
Chandler,  Cameron,  Wade  and  Broderick,  and  the  result  of  the 
consultation  was,  that  by  the  advice  of  his  friends  Mr.  Cameron 
armed  himself,  and  prepared  for  self  -  defense  in  case  he  was 
10 


U6  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER 

attacked  by  Green.  The  Senate  remained  in  continuous  session 
for  over  eighteen  hours,  and  for  some  time  after  the  quarrel. 
Meanwhile  Mr.  Green's  passion  cooled,  and  the  expected  collision 
did  not  take  place  (  explanations  were  ultimately  made  by  both 
in  the  Senate  chamber ).  But  when  the  Senate  adjourned,  Mr. 
Chandler  accompanied  Mr.  Cameron  to  his  lodgings,  as  a  measure 
of  precaution.  Out  of  this  affair  grew  a  formal  agreement 
between  Mr.  Chandler,  Mr.  Cameron  and  Mr.  Wade,  which  was 
reduced  to  writing,  and  sealed  with  the  understanding  that  its 
contents  should  not  be  made  public  until  after  the  death  of  all 
the  signers.  His  copy  of  this  historic  document  is  still  among 
Mr.  Chandler's  papers,  but  it  will  not  be  made  public  while 
Mr.  Cameron  lives.  Of  its  purport  one,*  who  knew  intimately 
the  men  and  the  circumstances  and  motives  of  this  act,  has 
written : 

The  assaults  of  the  violent  Southern  leaders  upon  some  of  the  ablest  and 
purest  Republicans  in  the  Senate,  known  to  be  non  -  combatants,  finally  became 
unbearable  to  some  of  the  less  scrupulous  Republicans,  until,  in  the  midst  of 
one  of  the  most  denunciatory  tirades  of  one  of  the  fire-eaters,  there  was 
noticed  a  little  group  of  the  lately -admitted  Republicans  in  a  side  consultation 
on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  Precisely  what  was  said  in  consultation  is  not 
known  to  the  writer,  nor  is  it  likely  that  it  will  transpire  during  the  lifetime 
of  either  of  the  three  gentlemen  engaged.  It  is,  however,  known  that  the 
group  was  composed  of  Senators  AVadc,  Cameron,  and  Chandler  ;  that  it  was 
agreed  between  them  substantially  that  the  business  of  insulting  Republican 
Senators  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  had  gone  far  enough,  and  that  it  must 
cease  ;  and  further,  that,  in  case  of  any  renewed  insolence  to  an}'  other 
Republican  Senator  of  the  character  which  had  been  practiced,  it  should  be 
the  duty  of  one  of  the  three  to  take  up  the  quarrel  and  make  it  his  own  to 
the  full  extent  of  the  code  —  to  the  death  if  it  need  be.  The  compact  Avas 
not  only  made,  but  signed  and  sealed,  and  remains  sealed  to  this  day.  Its 
import,  however,  became  known,  and  the  demeanor  of  the  Southern  fire-eaters, 
though  still  violent  and  disloyal,  soon  after  became  courteous  personally 
toward  Republican  Senators. 

They  did,  however,  feel  around  a  little  to  ascertain  whether  the  whisper 
ings  as  to  the  fighting  Senators  could  be  relied  on.  They  had  a  scheme  to 
assault  Senator  Chandler  in  the  street,  but  a  little  inquiry  as  to  his  strength 

*The  Hon.  James  M.  Edmunds,  for  many  years  Commissioner  of  the  Land  Office,  and 
afterward  postmaster  of  the  Senate  and  of  Washington  City. 


THE    WAR    CLOUD.  147 

and  skill  led  to  its  sudden  abandonment.  A  blustering  Southerner  took  offense 
at  the  remarks  of  Senator  Wade,  who  had  said  in  relation  to  an  assertion 
made  by  him,  that  such  a  statement  would  only  come  from  a  liar  or  a  coward. 
Of  course  this  could  not  be  borne  by  the  high-toned  cavalier,  and  his  friend, 
or  agent,  or  servitor  called  on  Senator  Wade,  not  with  a  formal  challenge,  but 
to  ascertain  how  Wade  would  probably  act  in  the  event  of  a  challenge.  As 
soon  as  Wade  pierced  the  diplomacy  of  the  agent  so  far  as  to  become  aware 
of  his  purpose,  he  told  him  to  tell  the  old  coward  that  he  dare  not  fight. 
This  was  not  quite  satisfactory.  The  agent  or  spy  seemed  anxious  to  know 
what  kind  of  weapons  Wade  would  choose  in  case  of  a  contest.  On  learning 
this,  Wade  said,  "rifles  at  twenty  paces,  with  a  white  paper  the  si/e  of  a 
"dollar  pinned  over  the  heart  of  each  combatant;  and  tell  him,  if  I  do  not 
"hit  the  one  on  his  breast  at  the  first  shot,  he  may  fire  at  me  all  day." 

These  inquiries  seemed  to  cure  all  further  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
chivalry  for  personal  combats.  Threats,  however,  continued  to  be  made  of 
street  assaults  and  caning,  generally  pointing  to  the  more  prominent  of  the 
non  -  combatants  in  the  Republican  ranks. 

Certain  of  the  Republicans  went  thoroughly  armed  all  the  time,  and 
these,  for  weeks  together,  took  turns  in  walking  with  their  non-belligerent 
colleagues  to  and  from  the  Capitol,  to  protect  them  from  personal  assault. 

The  decided  practical  value  of  Mr.  Chandler's  bearing  at  that 
time  and  of  his  known  determination  to  maintain  his  official 
and  personal  rights  at  all  physical  hazards  cannot  be  doubted. 
It  made  itself  felt  among  his  associates  on  both  sides  of  the 
Senate  chamber,  and  earned  for  him  early  recognition  at 
Washington  as  a  bold  and  staunch  leader  of  his  party.  Personal 
influence  was  the  natural  outgrowth  of  positive  qualities  so  fear 
lessly  displayed,  and  lie  became  a  man  whose  opinions  were 
sought  and  whose  energy  in  execution  was  prized  by  his  fellow- 
Senators.  A  close  personal  intimacy  with  Mr.  Wade,  Mr.  Ilamlin 
and  Mr.  Cameron  sprang  up  at  this  time,  and  general  agreement 
of  opinion  on  public  questions  led  them  into  concerted  action  as 
representatives  of  the  more  "radical"  element.  Much  of  their 
work  was  beneath  the  surface  and  is  not  a  matter  of  record,  but 
the  results  of  their  efforts  at  that  crisis  to  infuse  vigor  by  all 
possible  means  into  the  lifeless  national  sentiment  of  the  North 
and  to  prepare  the  people  for  the  coining  struggle  were  important 
and  durable. 


148  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Mr.  Chandler  was  heard  with  interest  during  the  sessions  of 
1858-59-60  on  other  questions  than  those  connected  with  the 
conflict  over  slavery.  His  speech  (on  Feb.  IT,  1859)  in  opposition 
to  the  bill  appropriating  $30,000,000  to  "facilitate  the  acquisition 
of  Cuba  by  negotiation "  attracted  some  attention.  Its  scope  and 
tenor  will  appear  from  this  extract : 

This  is  a  most  extraordinary  proposition  to  be  presented  to  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  at  this  time.  With  a  Treasury  bankrupt,  and  the  govern 
ment  borrowing  money  to  pay  its  expenses,  and  no  efficient  remedy  proposed 
for  that  state  of  things  ;  with  your  great  national  works  in  the  Northwest 
going  to  decay,  and  no  money  to  repair  them  ;  without  harbors  of  refuge  for 
your  commerce,  and  no  money  to  construct  them  ;  with  a  national  debt  of 
$70,000,000,  which  is  increasing,  in  a  time  of  profound  peace,  at  the  rate  of 
$30,000,000  per  annum  —  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  is  startled  by  a 
proposition  to  borrow  $30,000,000.  And  for  what,  sir  ?  To  pay  just  claims 
against  the  government,  which  have  been  long  deferred  ?  No,  sir  ;  you  have 
no  money  for  any  such  purpose  as  that.  Is  it  to  repair  your  national  works 
on  the  Northwestern  lakes,  to  repair  your  harbors,  to  rebuild  your  lighthouses  ? 
No,  sir  ;  you  have  no  money  for  that.  Is  it  to  build  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific, 
connecting  the  Eastern  and  Western  slopes  of  this  Continent  by  bands  of  iron, 
and  open  up  the  vast  interior  of  the  Continent  to  settlement  ?  No,  sir  ;  you 
say  that  is  unconstitutional.  What,  then,  do  you  propose  to  do  with  this 
$30,000,000  ?  Is  it  to  purchase  the  island  of  Cuba  V  No,  sir  ;  for  you  are 
already  advised  in  advance  that  Spain  will  not  sell  the  island  ;  more,  sir,  you 
are  advised  in  advance  that  she  will  take  a  proposition  for  its  purchase  as  a 
national  insult,  to  be  rejected  with  scorn  and  contempt.  The  action  of  her 
Cortes  and  of  her  government,  on  the  reception  of  the  President's  message, 
proves  this  beyond  all  controversy  ?  What,  then,  do  you  propose  to  do  with 
this  $30,000,000  ?  .  .  .  It  is  a  great  corruption  fund  for  bribery  and  for 
bribery  only.  .  .  .  But  let  us  admit  for  the  sake  of  argument  that  this 
proposition  is  brought  forward  in  good  faith  and  will  be  successfully  terminated. 
What  do  any  of  the  Northwestern  States  gain  by  the  purchase  of  this  island 
of  Cuba  ?  I  know  something  of  Cuba,  something  of  its  soil,  something  of 
the  climate,  something  of  its  people,  their  manners  and  customs,  something 
of  their  religion  and  something  of  their  crimes.  I  spent  a  winter  in  the 
interior  of  the  island  of  Cuba  a  few  years  since  and  can,  therefore,  speak 
from  personal  knowledge.  .  .  .  Much  of  the  soil  of  the  island  is  rich  and 
exceedingly  productive,  but  it  is  in  no  way  comparable  to  the  prairies  and 
bottom  lands  of  the  great  West.  You  can  go  into  almost  any  of  your  terri 
tories  and  select  an  equal  number  of  acres  and  you  will  have  a  more  valuable 
State  than  you  can  possibly  make  out  of  Cuba.  .  .  .  You  propose  to 
pay  $200,000,000  for  the  island,  $10  an  acre  for  every  acre  of  land  on 


THE    WAR    CLOUD.  149 

it.  ...  You  are  selling  infinitely  better  lands,  and  have  millions  upon  mil 
lions  of  acres  of  them,  at  $1.25  per  acre.  You  propose  to  pay  $200,000,000— 
nearly  $200  a  head  for  every  man,  woman  and  child,  including  negroes,  on 
the  island.  And  for  what  ?  For  the  right  to  govern  one  million  of  the  refuse 
of  the  earth. 

During  this  same  period  Mr.  Chandler  was  very  active  in 
helping  on  the  work  of  Republican  organization  throughout  the 
country.  In.  the  campaign  of  1858  in  Michigan,  he  spoke 
repeatedly  in  the  larger  towns  of  that  State,  great  audiences 
gathering  to  hear  him,  and  answering  with  growing  enthusiasm 
his  vigorous  attacks  on  the  administration  and  its  master,  the 
slave  power.  The  result  was  that  Moses  Wisner,  Republican, 
was  elected  Governor  by  a  vote  of  65,202  to  56,067  for  Charles 
E.  Stuart,  Democrat.  The  Republicans  also  carried  every  Con 
gressional  district  (William  A.  Howard  obtained  his  seat  after  a 
contest  with  George  B.  Cooper)  and  had  a  large  majority  in  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature.  That  body,  on  meeting  in  January, 
1859,  elected  Kinsley  S.  Bingliam  to  the  Senate,  and  Michigan 
has  always  since  that  year  been  represented  in  the  upper  brunch 
of  Congress  by  two  Republicans.  Charles  E.  Stuart,  whom  Mr. 
Bingliam  succeeded,  was  a  man  of  ability  who  had  manfully 
refused  to  support  the  Lecompton  outrage,  and  with  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  and  David  C.  Broderick  had  been  classed  as  an  Autl- 

O 

Nebraska  Democrat.  Mr.  Bingliam  was  a  thorough  Republican, 
and  during  his  brief  Senatorial  term  (he  died  in  October,  1801,) 
stood  side  by  side  with  his  colleague  on  all  political  questions. 

In  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1860  Mr.  Chandler  labored 
with  untiring  zeal  to  secure  Mr.  Lincoln's  election.  Early  in 
the  fall  he  spoke  with  marked  effect  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  Throughout  August,  September,  and  October  he  addressed 
a  series  of  great  mass  -  meetings  at  different  points  in  Michigan 
(at  Ilillsdale  8,000  people  gathered  to  hear  him,  at  Cassopolis 
10,000,  at  Paw  Paw  5,000,  and  at  Kalamazoo  20,000).  In 
October  he  visited  Illinois,  speaking  at  Mr.  Lincoln's  home 


150  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

(Springfield)  on  the  17th  of  that  mouth.*  His  last  speech  in 
that  campaign  was  made  in  the  Republican  wigwam  at  Detroit 
on  November  1,  and  was  alive  with  the  spirit  of  victory  and 
the  firm  purpose  to  secure  its  rewards.  On  the  day  of  election 
his  State  answered  his  appeals  with  an  increased  Republican 
majority,  giving  Lincoln  88,480  votes  to  65,057  for  Douglas,  805 
for  Breckenridge,  and  405  for  Bell. 

*  The  Springfield  Journal  of  October  18  said:  "Senator  Chandler,  of  Michigan,  made 
"yesterday  one  of  the  best  speeches  to  which  our  citizens  have  had  the  pleasure  of 
"listening  during  the  campaign.  .  .  .  The  meeting  was  a  magnificent  one  and  the 
"greatest  enthusiasm  prevailed." 


CHAPTER     IX. 

SERVICES    TO    THE    CAUSE    OF    THE    PROTECTION    OF    HOME    INDUSTRY. 

^JT^pACHARIAH  CHANDLER  as  a  Republican  Senator 
was  a  thorough  Whig  in  both  his  advocacy  of  an 
!U?)V  enlign*ened  national  system  of  Internal  Improvements 
and  his  constant  and  efficient  championship  of  the  cause 
of  the  Protection  of  American  Industries.  It  has  been  justly 
said  that  "  the  Great  West  of  to  -  day  owes  its  unequaled  growth 
"and  progress,  its  population,  productiveness  and  wealth,  pri- 
"  marily,  to  the  framers  of  the  federal  constitution,  by  which  its 
"  development  was  rendered  possible,  but  more  immediately  and 
"  palpably  to  the  sagacity  and  statesmanship  of  Jefferson,  the 
"purchaser  of  Louisiana;  to  the  genius  of  Fitch  and  Fulton, 
"  the  projector  and  achiever,  respectively,  of  steam  navigation ; 
"to  De  Witt  Clinton,  the  early,  unswerving  and  successful 
"  champion  of  artificial  inland  navigation ;  and  to  Henry  Clay, 
"the  eminent,  eloquent,  and  effective  champion  of  the  diversi- 
"fication  of  our  national  industry  through  the  Protection  of 
"Home  Manufactures."  No  man  knew  better  or  acknowledged 
more  fully  the  truth  of  this  analysis  than  Mr.  Chandler.  His 
own  State  abounded  with  evidences  of  its  justice,  and  his  firm 
faith  in  the  protective  principle  was  also  strengthened  by  the 
teachings  of  his  practical  mercantile  experience  and  by  his 
general  commercial  sagacity.  No  State  presents  to-day  more 
abundant  proofs  of  the  beneficence  of  "the  American  system1' 
than  Michigan,  and  no  personal  contributions  to  the  protection 
of  its  interests  and  the  diversification  of  its  industries  equaled 
those  given  on  every  possible  occasion  by  Mr.  ("handler  through 
out  his  prolonged  Senatorial  service. 


152  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Political  economy  has  been  well  defined  as  "  the  science  of 
"  labor  -  saving  applied  to  the  action  of  communities,  its  aim 
"  being  to  save  labor  from  waste,  from  misapplication,  and  from 
"  loss  through  constrained  idleness."  The  objects  of  Protection  are 
the  ennobling  of  labor  and  the  enhancing  of  its  productiveness, 
and  its  method  is  interdicting  an  unwholesome  competition  which 
looks  no  farther  than  securing  mere  cheapness  of  production  at 
whatever  cost  of  human  energy,  comfort  and  enlightenment. 
There  has  never  been  an  intelligent  and  sincere  protectionist 
without  a  thorough  faith  in  the  vast  importance  and  inherent 
nobility  of  Labor.  On  this  as  on  all  great  questions  Mr.  Chand 
lers  convictions  were  radical,  and  he  was  right  fundamentally. 
He  had  been  himself  a  laborer.  The  store,  the  farm,  the  factory, 
the  work -shop,  are  all  one  in  this — their  duties  are  labor.  Mr. 
Chandler  knew  the  worth  of  free  labor.  He  had  witnessed  its 
seed  -  planting  and  wonderful  fruitage  of  development  in  Michi 
gan,  and  he  honored  the  strong,  hardy,  intelligent  and  self-reliant 
race  who  were  the  laborers  there,  and  of  whom  he  was  one.  He 
had  early  opportunity  to  make  this  plain  in  the  Senate.  Ham 
mond  of  South  Carolina,  a  true  representative  of  that  turbulent, 
rebellious  State  and  of  the  embodied  insolence  of  its  master  class 
and  of  the  man  -  owner's  contempt  for  free  labor,  made  at  this 
time  his  notorious  u  mud -sill"  speech.  "There  must  be  laborers 
"  in  every  community,  a  low,  degenerate  class,  who  hew  the 
"  wood  and  draw  the  water,  .  .  .  the  mud  -  sills  of  society,  in 
"  effect  they  are  slaves ; "  this  was  its  idea,  It  was  a  frank 
avowal  of  the  estimate  put  by  the  slave  -  holding  oligarchy  upon 
the  Northern  laborers,  upon  the  men  who  have  made  this 
country  what  it  is.  Mr.  Chandler  was  then  young  in  the  Senate, 
and  had  spoken  but  rarely,  but  to  this  insult  to  his  constituency 
he  was  quick  to  reply.  In  his  speech  of  March  12,  1858,  the 
first  in  which  he  addressed  the  Senate  at  any  length,  he  said  : 

It  is  an  attack  upon  my  constituents.  Under  the  Senator's  version,  under 
his  exposition  of  slavery,  nine  -  tenths  of  the  people  of  the  Xorth  are  or  have 


THE    TARIFF. 


been  at  some  time  slaves  ;  for  nine  -  tenths  of  the  people  of  the  North  have 
at  some  time  been  hirelings  and  laborers.  We  do  not  feel  degraded  by  being 
laborers.  We  believe  it  to  be  respectable.  .  .  .  Travel  on  any  road  in  the 
State  of  Michigan,  and  you  will  find  flourishing  farms  on  almost  every  160 
acres,  with  comfortable  dwellings,  and  a  high  state  of  improvement  and  culti 
vation.  .  .  .  You  will  find  the  owners  of  these  farms  with  four  or  five 
sons  of  their  neighboring  farmers  hired  out  by  the  day  or  the  month  or  the 
year.  .  .  .  These  young  men  go  to  service  or  labor  until  they  get  money 
enougli  to  buy  a  farm ;  then  they,  too,  become  the  employers  of  labor. 
These  men  are  never  degraded  by  labor.  .  .  .  They  are  the 
foundations  of  society  there.  Some  of  these  men  who  are  at  work  by  the 
month  during  the  summer  on  farms  are  in  the  Legislature  making  laws  for 
us  in  the  winter 

There  was  more  of  it  to  the  same  effect  —  honest,  indignant 
words  in  defense  of  free  Northern  labor,  and  in  eulogy  of  the 
men  who  toiled.  And  the  tone  of  these  portions  of  the  speech 
was  wholesomely  defiant,  without  a  shade  of  truckling  to 
Southern  insolence.  Nine  years  later,  in.  discussing  proposed 
tariff  amendments  in  1867,  Mr.  Chandler  said  in  the  Senate, 
u  I  thank  God  wre  are  able  to  pay  good  prices  to  our  laborers." 
These  utterances  indicate  the  vein  in  which  he  always  made  his 
voice  heard  and  influence  felt  whenever  the  interests  and  rights 
of  labor  were  challenged  either  by  speech  or  attempted  legislation. 

The  tariff  controversy  in  the  United  States  dates  back  half  a 
century.  This  republic  in  its  colonial  days  was  agricultural. 
There  were  no  mines  nor  manufactures.  Each  house  did  its  own 
spinning  and  weaving.  There  were  small  shops  for  the  making 
and  repairing  of  a  few  articles,  and  luxuries  and  fine  goods  for 
the  rich  were  imported  from  the  factories  of  Europe.  The  great 
labor-saving  appliances  of  the  nineteenth  century  did  not  exist 
even  in  imagination.  The  water  power  of  the  country  was 
unused  and  its  boundless  wealth  of  minerals  unknown.  The 
people  were  farmers  or  traders.  For  them  the  government  was 
founded,  and  apparently  there  was  no  contemplation  of  anything 
beyond.  It  was  years  before  a  change  came,  but,  once  begun,  it 
hurried  with  rapid  stride,  until  to-day  more  than  one  -  twentieth 


ZACHARIAII    CHANDLER. 

of  the  entire  population  of  the  United  States  are  engaged  in 
manufacturing,  as  many  more  are  employed  in  occupations  con 
nected  with  and  dependent  upon  such  enterprises,  and  the  capital 
invested  in  productive  industries  exceeds  by  millions  of  dollars 
the  entire  national  debt. 

These  changes  as  they  progressed  made  new  demands  upon 
the  government.  After  the  development  of  the  steam  engine, 
and  after  later  inventions  and  contrivances  had  cheapened  the 
production  of  cotton,  woolen  and  other  goods,  household  spin 
ning-  wheels  and  looms  were  silent,  and  the  United  States 
imported  nearly  every  manufactured  article  needed  by  its  people, 
sending  out  in  return  the  products  of  its  farms  and  plantations, 
its  tobacco,  cotton  and  grain.  Year  after  year  this  draining  pro 
cess  went  on,  the  manufacturing  towns  of  Europe  growing  great 
and  prosperous,  the  United  States  widening  and  increasing  in 
population,  but  adding  little  to  its  wealth.  The  mill -owners  of 
Europe  bought  their  cotton  in  South  Carolina  or  Georgia,  trans 
ported  it  across  the  Atlantic,  made  it  into  cloths,  and  returned 
them  to  !Xew  York  or  Charleston.  The  American  purchaser 
paid  the  cost  of  both  transportations,  the  cost  and  profit  of 
manufacture  abroad,  all  the  profits  of  middle  -  men  who  handled 
the  goods,  and  all  the  cost  of  exchanges.  By  this  process 
America  toiled,  while  England  and  the  other  manufacturing 
States  of  Europe  reaped  the  harvest.  Thoughtful  people,  know 
ing  that  capital  employed  in  production  feeds,  clothes  and  lodges 
the  industrious  workman,  adds  to  the  wealth  of  the  nation,  adds 
to  its  strength,  adds  to  its  power  of  resistance,  and  lessens  the 
individual  burden  of  taxation,  and  comprehending  the  inevitable 
result  of  the  drain  in  progress,  asked,  Is  there  no  way  of  pre 
venting  this?  They  saw  the  raw  material  produced  in  bountiful 
profusion,  saw  the  water  power  of  the  country  running  away 
to  the  sea  unvexed  by  use,  and  naturally  asked,  Is  it  not  pos 
sible  to  bring  the  miners  and  smelters,  the  founders,  machinists 


THE    TARIFF.  155 

4 

and  laborers,  the  mechanic  and  manufacturer  of  every  description, 
here,  to  place  them  beside  the  raw  material,  to  utilize  this 
wasted  power,  and  to  save  the  losses  and  attrition  that  are 
impoverishing  the  country?  When  these  thoughts  took  shape  in 
the  active  brains  of  Americans,  the  change  began.  Mills  and 
factories  sprang  up  by  the  water  -  courses.  Tall  chimneys,  clouds 
of  smoke  and  glowing  furnaces  came  after.  Thus  American 
manufacturing  was  born. 

But  as  the  first  mills  and  factories  were  established,  these 
discoveries  were  made :  In  building  a  mill  in  England  the 
laborers  and  mechanics  could  be  hired  at  wages  from  twenty  to 
forty  per  cent,  lower  than  prevailed  on  this  continent.  The  cost 
of  machinery,  most  of  it  being  brought  from  Europe,  was  also 
greater.  Foreign  manufacturers  could  hire  their  capital  from  the 
immense  reservoir  of  Europe,  where  it  had  been  accumulating 
for  centuries,  at  from  four  to  six  per  cent,  interest.  Here  the 
borrower  must  pay  eight  or  ten  per  cent,  or  even  higher.  There 
was  another  and  even  graver  matter  presented  to  the  considera 
tion  of  the  pioneer  manufacturer.  Labor  in  Europe  was  cheap 
—  so  cheap  that,  combined  with  abundant  capital  and  low 
interest,  it  enabled  the  foreign  manufacturer  to  pay  two  ocean 
transportations  and  yet  undersell  an  American  competitor  at  the 
very  door  of  his  own  mill.  Should  the  American  mechanic 
be  asked  to  toil  for  the  pauper  wages  of  Europe  ?  Should  it  be 
the  policy  of  this  government  to  gather  about  its  factories  the 
hungry- eyed,  ill -clad,  impoverished,  ignorant  and  hopeless  crowds 
which  are  found  in  the  manufacturing  towns  of  the  old  world  ? 
Could  American  institutions  endure  this  \  Where  the  people  are 
all  agriculturists,  except  under  very  extraordinary  circumstances 
they  need  never  want  for  food,  and  such  circumstances  are  rarely 
chargeable  to  misgovernment  or  to  bad  laws.  The  farming 
classes  are  widely  scattered ;  they  are  conservative  and  self- 
reliant,  not  given  to  mobs  and  outbreaks,  nor  to  obeying  the 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

will  of  self  -  constituted  leaders  as  do  men  gathered  in  great 
masses.  But  the  men  of  mills  and  shops  and  factories,  unless 
they  are  well  paid,  must  suffer ;  and  when  they  suffer  their 
discontent  threatens  society  itself.  Despotic  governments  may 
apply  the  gag  of  a  bayonet  or  the  silence  of  a  musket  ball,  but 
this  is  not  possible  in  a  republic  resting  upon  the  uncompelled 
support  of  all  the  people.  Plainly,  if  a  government,  constituted 
as  is  this,  is  to  be  preserved,  the  mechanics,  the  laborers  in  mills 
and  mines,  in  shops  'and  factories,  must  be  paid  enough  to 
support  themselves  and  their  families  in  comfort,  to  educate  their 
children  and  to  permit  the  thrifty  to  make  savings.  If  the  time 
ever  comes  when  the  millions  of  American  workers  upon  whose 
assent  this  government  exists  are  reduced  to  the  condition  of  the 
pauper  labor  of  Europe,  this  republic  and  its  golden  promises  of 
freedom  will  most  certainly  ignobly  perish  from  the  face  of 
the  earth.  From  such  circumstances  and  ideas  as  these  sprang 
the  doctrine,  accepted  by  almost  all  of  the  earlier  statesmen  of 
the  republic,  that  the  revenue  system  of  the  United  States  must 
be  so  modeled  as  to  stimulate  domestic  manufactures,  protect 
them  from  ruinous  foreign  competition,  and  promote  that  diversi 
fication  of  industry  which  is  so  essential  to  the  prosperity  and 
independence  of  free  labor. 

The  first  tariff  measure  ( passed  by  the  First  Congress  and 
approved  by  George  Washington )  imposed  but  low  duties,  but 
in  some  of  its  details  practically  recognized  the  protective  prin 
ciple,  and  in  its  preamble  declared  one  of  its  purposes  to  be 
"  the  protection  and  encouragement  of  Domestic  Manufacture." 
From  1807  to  1815  the  United  States  was  in  a  great  degree 
driven  from  the  ocean.  A  part  of  that  time  it  was  involved  in 
a  war  with  Great  Britain,  with  an  embargo  laid  upon  its  ports. 
During1  these  vears  the  home  manufacturer  had  no  foreign  com- 

O  .7  o 

petition  to  fear,  and  factories  sprang  up  to  meet  the  local 
demands,  drawing  about  them  laborers  and  their  families,  making 


THE    TARIFF.  157 

a  quick  market  for  the  productions  of  the  soil,  and  placing  con 
sumer  and  producer  side  by  side.  But  this  was  the  result  of 
accident  and  not  of  deliberate  policy.  The  scene  changed  when 
the  raising  of  ihe  embargo  brought  into  the  country  a  Hood  of 
manufactured  articles  representing  cheap  labor,  cheap  interest  and 
cheap  capital.  Then  came  the  demand  for  the  levying  of  such 
duties  on  the  products  of  foreign  labor  as  would  protect  the  Amer 
ican  manufacturer  and  enable  him  to  pay  a  suitable  compensation 
to  the  American  workman.  The  first  response  to  this  was  the 
tariff  of  1816,  justly  styled  "The  Planters'  and  Fanners1  Tariff," 
because  it  gave  protection  to  coarser  commodities  which  least 
required  it,  and  withheld  it  from  those  articles  in  whose  pro 
duction  others  were  to  be  used.  Eight  years  afterward  came 
a  third  tariff  varying  little  in  its  general  features,  but  with  rates 
of  duties  slightly  increased.  Four  years  later  (in  1828)  was 
enacted  the  first  thoroughly  American  protective  tariff,  but  it  was 
soon  destroyed  by  the  act  of  July  12,  1832  ( the  outcome  of  the 
Nullification  controversy ),  which  completely  abolished  its  protect 
ive  features.  Within  a  few  months,  through  the  exertions  of 
Mr.  Clay,  this  measure  was  modified  by  what  was  known  as  the 
compromise  tariff  act,  Avhich  continued  in  force  until  the  pas 
sage  of  the  protective  tariff  of  18-12.  This  was  in  time  displaced 
by  the  free -trade  tariff,  which  went  into  force  four  years  later, 
in  June,  1847.  It  was  followed  in  1861  (March  23)  by  the 
Morrill  tariff,  a  thoroughly  protective  measure,  which  with  some 
modifications  yet  remains  on  the  statute  books. 

In  1816,  notwithstanding  it  had  just  emerged  from  war,  the 
country's  industrial  condition  was  at  least  hopeful,  but  the  conse 
quences  of  the  tariff  of  that  year  promptly  manifested  themselves. 
The  American  manufacturer  was  undersold  at  the  door  of  his 
mill  by  the  foreigner ;  factories  closed,  wages  shrunk  and  the 
demand  for  labor  diminished.  Prices  of  all  kinds  of  planter's  and 
farmer's  produce  declined  in  turn,  and  to  industrial  prostration 


158  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

was  speedily  added  agricultural  depression.  Henry  Clay  pro 
nounced  the  seven  years  preceding  1821  the  most  disastrous  this 
nation  had  ever  known.  But  almost  from  the  moment  of  its 
passage  the  country  felt  the  impetus  of  the  protective  tariff  of 
1828.  Furnace  doors  were  thrown  open;  foundries  were  built; 
the  cobwebs  that  had  gathered  about  factory  machinery  dis 
appeared  in  the  whir  of  busy  wheels ;  labor  came  again  into 
demand ;  immigration  increased  ;  the  products  of  farms  and  plan 
tations  brought  good  prices ;  and  the  public  revenue  grew  until 
the  national  debt  was  extinguished.  Prosperity  thus  became 
universal  throughout  the  land.  When  this  protective  tariff  of 
1828  gave  way  to  the  gradual  reductions  in  duties  of  the  com 
promise  measure  of  1832,  there  followed  a  repetition  of  the 
scenes  that  succeeded  the  tariff  of  1810.  From  1837  to  1812 
mills  and  furnaces  were  closed,  wages  were  reduced,  laborers 
sought  in  vain  for  employment,  the  poor-houses  were  filled  and 
manufacturers,  farmers  and  planters  became  bankrupts  together. 
Even  the  public  treasury  was  unable  to  borrow  at  home  as  small 
a  sum  as  $1,000,000  at  any  rate  of  interest,  and  the  great  bank 
ing  houses  of  Europe  refused  it  credit,  so  that  it  was  forced  to 
the  humiliation  of  selling  its  securities  at  ruinous  discounts.  The 
passage  of  the  protective  tariff  of  1812  marks  the  date  of  another 
business  revival.  Old  mines  were  re -worked  and  new  ones  were 
opened.  Mill-tires  were  re -lighted  and  new  mills  sprang  up  in 
all  directions.  Money  became  abundant,  and  public  and  private 
incomes  exceeded  all  precedent.  Farmers  and  planters  secured 
easy  markets  and  ample  prices  for  their  produce,  and  laborers' 
homes  grew  bright  with  plenty.  Then  came  the  Free  -  Trade 
tariff  of  181P>  and  the  commercial  decadence  which  culminated 
in  the  disasters  of  1857.  California  and  its  gold  delayed  the 
catastrophe  but  could  not  avert  it.  From  the  moment  of  the 
repeal  of  the  protective  tariff,  the  inflow  of  British  iron  and 
cloth  began  and  the  receding  tide  carried  back  American  gold, 


THE    TARIFF.  159 

impoverishing  the  country.  Industry  was  stricken  to  the  earth, 
and  day  by  day  saw  the  dependence  of  the  United  States  on 
foreign  markets  growing  until  when  the  crash  came  it  was  com 
plete.  The  vast  flood  of  gold  from  California  had  gone  into 
European  vaults  and  in  its  stead  could  only  be  shown  receipts 
for  foreign  goods  consumed  and  the  wrecks  of  American  indus 
tries.  The  Morrill  tariff  was  followed  by  an  unparalleled  mer 
cantile  and  manufacturing  development,  which  not  even  the 
disastrous  effects  of  an  inflated  currency  (in  1873-76)  could 
more  than  briefly  check. 

Mr.  Chandler,  who  knew  well  these  facts,  and  had  learned 
"the  American  'doctrine"  in  the  days  of  Clay,  had  taken  his 
seat  in  the  Senate  when  the  crash  of  1857  came,  and  was  active 
in  demanding  and  shaping  that  revolution  in  the  revenue  system 
which  lias  made  the  United  States  one  of  the  great  manufactur 
ing  nations  of  the  world.  He  was  an  ardent  champion  of  the 
Morrill  tariff  ( of  1861  ),  and  aided  materially  in  perfecting  its 
details,  watching  with  special  vigilance  tho?e  of  its  provisions 
which  affected  the  vast  interests  of  the  Northwest.  lie  believed 
in  the  largest  possible  application  of  the  protective  principle, 
and  favored  aiding  every  American  producer  and  every  American 
manufacturer  who  could  complain  on  valid  grounds  of  foreign 
competition.  Every  demand  for  protection,  which  gave  reason 
able  promise  of  increasing  the  yield  of  any  staple  or  of  develop 
ing  a  new  industry,  received  his  energetic  support.  To  any 
revenue  measure  or  proposition,  which  seemed  to  him  calculated 
to  advance  foreign  at  the  expense  of  American  interests,  he  was 
uncompromisingly  hostile.  The  abrogation  of  the  Reciprocity 
treaty  with  Canada  he  labored  most  assiduously  to  bring  about, 
and  he  resisted  with  all  his  characteristic  pertinacity  each  succes 
sive  effort  to  restore  a  compact  which  imposed  such  heavy 
burdens  upon  the  lumbermen,  salt  manufacturers,  and  farmers  of 
the  Northwest.  Throiurliout  his  Senatorial  term  all  measures 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

affecting  duties  in  any  form  or  proposing  any  modification  in 
their  schedules  found  him  alert,  well  -  informed,  and  determined 
to  maintain  the  protective  policy  against  any  assault/*  Very 
much  the  greater,  and  undoubtedly  the  most  effective,  part  of 
his  labors  for  an  American  tariff  was  put  forth  in  committee- 
rooms  and  in  the  earnest  use  of  argument  and  influence  with 
fellow -Congressmen  ;  he  relied  much  more  upon  this  work  than 
upon  speech  -  making  for  results  — and  results  he  always  ranked 
far  above  display  or  mere  publicity.  Still  he  spoke  not,  unfre- 
quently  on  tariff  questions,  and  a  few  quotations  will  illustrate 
satisfactorily  his  positions  and  methods.  This  passage  shows  how 
radical  was  his  protectionism  : 

This  nation  to-day  should  be  an  exporter  of  iron  instead  of  an  importer. 
There  is  no  valid  reason  why  we  should  buy  one  single  pound  of  iron  from 
any  other  nation  on  the  globe.  Our  mountains  are  rilled  with  the  purest  ores 
on  the  face  of  the  earth.  .  If  I  had  my  way  I  would  absolutely  pro 

hibit  the  introduction  of  foreign  iron. 

*  The  following  letter  is  written  by  a  gentleman  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  history 
of  tariff  legislation  at  Washington  for  many  years : 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Jan.  5,  1880. 

Some  eight  years  ago,  when  a  serious  reduction  in  the  copper  tariff  was  proposed,  I 
know  that  Mr.  Chandler  rendered  valuable  aid  in  bringing  the  facts  before  the  Senate  in 
his  clear,  terse  way  — going  straight  to  the  mark.  Then,  as  always  in  practical  matters, 
his  prompt  manner,  his  business  knowledge,  and  his  immense  power  of  will  made  him  the 
man  to  be  called  on,  and  he  ever  responded  to  the  call,  and  had  a  power  wonderful  indeed 
to  "push  things."  When  the  act  to  reduce  internal  revenue  taxes— which  had  passed  the 
House  almost  unanimously,  and  had  been  perfected  by  the  mutual  labors  of  Congressional 

committees  and  representative   business  men was  before  the  Senate  for  final  action  in 

March,  1868,  an  effort  was  made  by  Senator  Fessenden,  of  Maine,  to  add  to  it  as  a  "rider" 
a  clause  affecting  the  copper  tariff,  which  would  surely  have  delayed  if  not  defeated  the 
measure.  Senator  Chandler  spoke  ten  minutes,  putting  concentrated  power  in  his  words, 
and  showing  the  great  importance  of  passing  the  act  and  the  needless  mischief  that  must 
come  of  saddling  it  with  another  question.  He  succeeded  in  defeating  the  Fessenden 
amendment,  the  act  passed  without  it,  and  it  reduced  the  annual  burden  of  internal  reve 
nue  taxation  some  $60,003,000  (all  this  internal). 

The  Senator's  views  on  tariff  legislation  were  broad  and  comprehensive,  recognizing 
the  interdependence  of  all  branches  of  industry  and  the  importance  of  such  action  as 
should  bear  with  equal  justice  on  all  ;  knowing  no  East,  nor  West,  nor  South— no  petty 
and  narrow  jealousy  between  farmer  and  merchant  and  manufacturer— but  seeking  the 
wise  care  and  healthy  growth  of  a  varied  home  industry  all  over  the  land. 

On  these  subjects  he  showed  practical  sagacity  and  the  same  moral  courage  and 
bold  vigor  that  marked  his  great  efforts  for  freedom  and  justice  to  all  in  the  last  and 
grandest  year,  which  so  nobly  closed  a  public  career  which  will  live  and  grow  in  the  minds 
of  future  generations.  Very  truly  yours,  GILICS  u.  STEBBINS. 


THE    TARIFF.  161 

The  context  does  not  sustain  an  absolutely  literal  construction 
of  the  last  sentence.  Mr.  Chandler  had  seen  Michigan  when  its 
copper  mines  were  unworked,  its  limitless  riches  of  iron  undis 
covered,  its  salt  deposits  unknown,  and  its  pine  forests  unfelled. 
He  had  seen  these  industries  passing  through  various  stages  of 
prosperity  and  disaster  as  they  were  affected  by  prevailing  tariffs, 
now  shielded  by  a  wise  policy  of  protection  and  now  at  the 
mercy  of  foreign  producers,  who  at  times  ( to  use  their  own 
admission )  "  voluntarily  incur  immense  losses  in  order  to  destroy 
"  American  competition  and  to  gain  and  keep  control  of  Ameri- 
"can  markets."  He  saw  these  industries  grow  from  nothing,  until 
the  annual  yield  of  Michigan's  copper  mines  became  20,266  tons, 
of  its  iron  mines  1,125,231  tons,  and  of  its  salt  wells  1,885,884 
barrels,  and  until  its  lumber  product  expanded  to  the  enormous 
total  of  2,700,000,000  feet  in  one  season.  They  thus  became 
powerful  interests,  employing  a  great  host  of  laborers  and  offer 
ing  support  to  thousands  of  families.  These  facts  and  the  tone 
of  what  Mr.  Chandler  said  on  kindred  topics  make  it  plain  that 
by  the  absolute  prohibition  of  the  introduction  of  foreign  iron  he 
meant  not  an  embargo,  but  the  affording  of  such  ample  protec 
tion  to  the  iron  industries  of  the  entire  country  as  would  make 
it  impossible  for  the  products  of  foreign  cheap  labor  to  compete 
in  its  markets  with  those  of  American  labor,  and  as  would  make 
the  United  States  a  seller  and  not  a  buyer  of  iron  and  its  wares. 

"With  all  his  earnestness  as  a  protectionist,  he  kept  the  inter 
ests  of  labor  predominant  in  his  consideration  of  this  subject. 
For  instance,  in  some  remarks  upon  the  lumber  tariff,  he  said : 
"  It  is  perfectly  well  known  that  the  great  value  of  lumber  is 
"  in  the  labor  and  the  transportation,  and  while  we  in  the  United 
"  States  are  paying  our  laborers  ( in  lumber )  $2  a  day,  they  are 
"  in  the  British  Provinces  paying  but  from  Y5  cents  to  $1  per 
"  day."  And  he  steadily  voted  for  such  protection  of  the  lumber 
trade  as  would  enable  producers  engaged  in  that  business  to 
11 


162  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

pay  large  wages,  and  opposed  every  suggestion  which,  looked  to 
impoverishing  or  pauperizing  the  American  artisan.  He  uni 
formly  upheld  American  industry  and  labor  of  every  kind  against 
the  competition  of  the  world.  He  felt  that  the  highest  civili 
zation  can  only  be  secured  through  that  policy  of  industrial 
diversification  which  brings  consumer  and  producer  side  by  side, 
and  he  favored  giving  it  the  widest  possible  scope.  He  fre 
quently  declared,  "  I  cannot  vote  to  discriminate  against  any 
particular  branch,"  and  he  firmly  believed  in  protecting  every 
thing  his  country  could  produce.  His  vigilance  in  caring  for  all 
interests  and  his  grasp  of  the  practical  details  of  tariff  legislation 
will  appear  from  one  or  two  brief  citations  from  speeches  made 
in  1867  on  proposed  modifications  of  the  Morrill  tariff.  The 
duty  on  pig -metal  was  then  §9  per  ton,  and  it  was  proposed 
in  the  new  bill  to  admit  scrap-iron  on  the  payment  of  a  duty 
of  $3.  On  this  proposition  Mr.  Chandler  said : 

The  effect  of  this  tariff  will  be  to  admit  all  the  rails  in  the  world  into 
the  United  States  at  a  duty  of  $3  a  ton.  We  will  become  the  recipients  of 
all  the  scrap-iron  in  the  world.  .  .  .  And  the  effect  will  be  to  put  out 
every  blast  furnace  in  the  United  States,  and  stop  the  mining  in  every 
mountain  in  the  country.  .  .  .  The  expense  of  re -rolling  bars  is  only 
about  $30  a  ton.  You  admit  scrap  -  iron  at  this  nominal  duty,  and  the  result 
will  be  to  utterly  destroy  the  revenue  you  now  receive  from  iron — you  will 
import  nothing  but  at  the  duty  of  $3  per  ton.  This  scrap  -  iron  is  worth  two 
or  three  times  as  much  as  pig -metal.  Pig -metal 'has  to  be  puddled  once.  T, 
costs  to-day  $23  per  ton  to  put  pig -metal  into  scrap,  and  yet  you  put  a  duty 
of  $9  per  ton  on  pig -metal  and  propose  a  mere  nominal  duty  of  $3  per  ton 
on  scrap.  .  .  .  This  is  absolutely  abandoning  the  whole  iron  interests  of 
the  United  States,  save  and  excepting  the  rolling-mills.  .  .  .  The  State  of 
Pennsylvania  takes  about  301), 000  tons  of  Lake  Superior  ore  to  mix  with  her 
inferior  ore,  and  transports  it  by  water  700  or  800  miles,  and  afterward  by 
land  carriage  —  a  very  expensive  carriage  —  from  50  to  300  miles.  This  ore  is 
mixed  with  the  Pennsylvania  ores,  and  transported  then  a  long  distance  at  very 
great  expense.  The  demand  for  pig-iron  is  for  rolling.  .  .  .  Calling  ma 
terial  nothing,  it  costs  the  manufacturers  $00  per  ton  of  scrap-iron  to  take 
the  ore  and  the  coal  from  the  mine  and  deliver  at  the  works,  every  cent  of 
which  is  labor.  .  .  .  There  are  in  the  world  100,000  miles  of  railroads,  of 
which  30,000  are  in  the  United  States,  and  64,000  in  the  rest  of  the  world. 
These  railroads  are  laid,  on  an  average,  with  rails  weighing  50  pounds  to  the 
yard,  and  use  49,000  tons  net  to  the  mile.  This  gives  the  64,000  miles  abroad 


THE    TARIFF.  163 

3,136,000  tons  of  iron.  This  has  to  be  re  -  rolled  on  an  average  once  in  ten 
years  ;  consequently  one  -  tenth  of  this  amount  is  let  loose  upon  some  country 
every  year  in  the  shape  of  scrap-iron.  That  would  make  the  amount  of  rail 
road  scrap  alone  313,600  tons  per  annum,  which  it  is  proposed  to  admit  at  a 
duty  of  $3  a  ton,  and  which  it  costs  to-day  $60  a  ton  to  put  in  the  form  of 
scrap  in  the  United  States.  This  is  Free  Trade  in  the  broadest  sense.  It  is 
worse  than  that.  ...  It  will  build  up  rolling  -  mills,  but  it  will  break 
down  every  forge  in  the  United  States.  ...  It  will  stop  our  mines  in 
Michigan  that  yield  ores  richer  than  any  other  in  the  world.  ...  It  will 
make  this  country  the  entrepot  for  the  scrap-iron  of  the  world. 

He  would  not  build  up  the  rolling-mill  at  the  expense  of 
the  mine  and  the  blast-furnace.  He  would  not  build  up  one 
industry  upon  the  rums  of  any  other.  His  many  speeches  and 
his  more  numerous  votes  in  the  Senate  all  indicated  the  same 
clear  purpose  to  avoid  discrimination  against  home  interests 
where  possible,  and  to  protect  everything  American  against  every 
thing  of  foreign  production. 

One  phase  of  this  many  -  sided  question  which  made  a  deep 
impression  upon  Mr.  Chandler  remains  to  be  mentioned.  In 
common  with  all  thoughtful  Americans,  during  the  course  of  the 

O  O 

rebellion  he  realized  the  priceless  value  of  the  large  -  brained, 
energetic  and  highly- skilled  American  mechanic.  He  had  marked 
these  men  in  every  brigade,  upon  every  field  of  the  war, 
enabling  commanders  to  overcome  obstacles  which  without  them 
would  have  been  insurmountable.  He  had  seen  mills  and  fac 
tories  and  shops  pouring  into  the  storehouses  of  the  government 
the  multitudinous  articles  without  which  a  successful  prosecution 
of  the  war  would  have  been  impossible,  and  that,  too,  with  a 
rapidity  which  was  as  amazing  as  it  was  unexampled.  He  was 
from  his  early  manhood  a  strong  protectionist.  But  when  he 
realized  what  the  American  working-men  had  done  for  the 

o 

country  and  for  freedom,  and  how  its  protected  trades  had  served 
the  government  in  its  hour  of  trial,  he  was  still  more  confirmed 
in  the  wisdom  of  the  system  which  fosters  American  industry 
and  secures  to  the  country  the  priceless  heritage  of  prosperous 
and  intelligent  laborers  and  mechanics. 


CHAPTER    X. 

SERVICES    TO    NORTHWESTERN    COMMERCIAL    INTERESTS    AND    THE    CAUSE 
OF    INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS. 

PON  the  day  following  that  on  which  Mr.  Chandler  first 
took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  Judah  P.  Benjamin  of 
Louisiana  offered  a  resolution,  from  a  special  committee 
in  regard  to  the  formation  of  committees,  amending  the 
thirty- fourth  rule  of  the  Senate  by  providing  that  thereafter  the 
standing  committees  of  that  body  (their  members  are  selected 
by  the  Senate  itself  and  not  by  its  presiding  officer)  should  be 
appointed  at  the  commencement  of  each  session  of  Congress. 
The  Committee  on  Commerce  then,  and  from  that  time  until 
the  special  session  in  the  spring  of  1875,  consisted  of  seven 
members.  Mr.  Benjamin's  resolution  was  adopted,  and  on  March 
9th  the  standing  committees  for  the  special  session  were,  on 
motion  of  Mr.  Seward  of  New  York,  announced.  The  Commit 
tee  on  Commerce  was  composed  of  Messrs.  Clay  of  Alabama, 
chairman,  Benjamin  of  Louisiana,  Bigler  of  Pennsylvania,  Toombs 
of  Georgia,  Reid  of  North  Carolina,  Bright  of  Indiana,  and 
Hamlin  of  Maine.  Mr.  Chandler  was  assigned  to  the  Committee 
on  the  District  of  Columbia,  of  which  Mr.  Brown  of  Mississippi 
was  chairman.  Mr.  Hamlin  of  Maine  was  also  appointed  on 
this  inferior  committee,  giving  it  two  Republican  members, 
while  the  Committee  on  Commerce  had  but  one.  The  general 
assignment  of  places  to  the  minority  was  so  inadequate  and 
unfair  that  a  Republican  caucus  (the  first  Mr.  Chandler  attended) 
had  been  called  to  consider  the  matter.  Mr.  Chandler,  although 
a  new  member,  was  one  of  its  speakers  and  gave  strong  expres- 


INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS.  1G5 

sion  to  his  sense  of  the  injustice  with  which  both  his  party  and 
the  Northwest  had  been  treated.  It  was  decided  to  make  a 
formal  protest  against  the  constitution  of  the  committees,  and,  as 
a  result  of  this  consultation,  when  Mr.  Seward's  motion  was 
made,  Mr.  Fessenden  of  Maine,  as  the  spokesman  of  the  Repub 
licans,  denounced  the  unfairness  of  the  majority  with  force  and 
vigor.  In  his  remarks  lie  said  "that  there  was  not  an  individual 
"  member  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  Senate  who  deemed 
"  that  a  just  and  fair  division  had  been  made  in  the  appointment 
"  of  the  committees,  especially  two  or  three  of  them."  He  also 
declared  that  there  was  not  a  just  and  fair  division  with  refer 
ence  to  questions  coming  before  the  committees,  and  then  gave 
this  illustration :  "  Take,  for  instance,  the  Committee  on  Coin- 
"  merce.  On  that  committee  the  Republican  party,  numbering 
"  twenty  out  of  the  sixty-  one  members  of  the  Senate,  is  assigned, 
"  of  the  whole  number  of  seven,  one  member.  .  .  .  The 
"  interests  of  the  whole  lake  region,  the  interests  of  New  England 
"  and  of  New  York,  involving,  as  those  large  portions  of  the 
"  country  do,  such  an  infinite  superiority  of  all  its  commerce, 
"  are  found  with  only  two  members  out  of  the  seven."  Mr. 
II  mil  in  here  corrected  Mr.  Fessenden's  statement,  by  saying, 
"  My  colleague  is  mistaken.  .  .  .  The  interests  of  which  he 
speaks  have  only  otie  member  on  that  committee,  not  two."  Mr. 
Hamiin  was  right ;  there  wras  but  one  member  of  the  Committee 
on  Commerce  to  represent  the  immense  interests  of  the  country 
of  the  Great  Lakes  of  the  Northwest  and  of  the  whole  of  New 
England  and  New  York,  and  that  single  member  was  himself. 
But  the  Republican  protest,  well-grounded  as  it  was,  proved 
then  unavailing. 

At  the  first  regular  session  of  the  Thirty- fifth  Congress, 
beginning  in  December,  1857,  Mr.  Allen,  of  Rhode  Island,  pre 
sented  under  the  rule  a  new  list  of  the  standing  committees  of 
the  Senate  for  adoption.  That  on  Commerce  was  only  changed 


166  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

by  the  substitution  of  Mr.  Allen  for  Mr.  Bright  of  Indiana, 
increasing  its  'New  England  but  diminishing  its  Western  member 
ship.  Messrs.  Ilamlin,  Chandler  and  Wilson  again  made  vigorous 
remonstrances  against  the  unjust  formation  of  the  standing  com 
mittees  as  a  whole.  This  was  Mr.  Chandler's  first  speech  in  the 
Senate,  and  it  was  as  follows  : 

I  find  in  the  "Globe"  of  yesterday  the  following  announcement:  "The 
"  caucus  of  all  parties  in  the  Senate  has  agreed  to  constitute  the  committees 
"as  follows."  And  thea  follows  a  list  in  detail.  This  announcement,  as  I 
understand  it,  is  incorrect.  I  believe  that  no  such  caucus  has  been  held.  I 
am  informed  that  a  Democratic  caucus  was  held,  and  the  committees  made 
up,  leaving  certain  blanks  to  be  submitted  to  the  Republicans  for  them  to  fill. 
They  saw  fit  to  fill  these  blanks,  under  protest.  No  such  caucus  as  is 
announced  in  the  statement  which  I  have  read  was  ever  held.  No  assent 
has  ever  been  given  by  the  Republicans  of  this  Senate  to  any  such  formation 
of  committees  as  is  there  announced. 

I  rise,  sir,  to  protest  against  this  list  of  committees  as  presented  here. 
Never  before,  in  the  whole  course  of  my  observation,  have  I  seen  a  large 
minority  ,'irtually  ignored  in  a  legislative  body  upon  important  committees. 
Thu  r,  the  first  time  that  I  have  ever  witnessed  such  a  total,  or  almost  total, 
ignoring  of  a  large  and  influential  minority.  But,  sir,  whom  and  what  does 
this  minority  represent  ?  It  represents  —  I  believe  I  am  correct  in  saying  — 
more  than  half  —  certainly  nearly  one -half  —  of  all  the  free  white  inhabitants 
of  these  United  States;  it  represents  two  thirds  of  all  the  commerce  of  the 
United  States ;  and  more  than  two  -  thirds  of  the  revenues  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  yet  this  minority,  representing  the  commerce  and  revenues  of  the 
nation,  is  expected  to  be  satisfied  with  one  place  upon  the  tail  end  of  a  com 
mittee  of  seven  on  Commerce.  I  may  almost  say  that  that  committee  is  of 
more  importance  to  the  Northwest  than  all  the  other  committees  of  this  body, 
but  the  great  Northwest  is  totally  ignored  upon  a  committee  in  which  it  takes 
so  deep  an  interest.  Not  a  solitary  member  of  this  body  from  that  portion  of 
the  country  is  honored  with  a  position  on  that  committee,  and  yet  you  have 
been  told  of  the  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  commerce  which  is 
there  looking  for  protection  to  this  body. 

Sir,  we  are  not  satisfied,  and  we  desire  to  enter  our  protest  against  any 
such  formation  of  committees  as  is  here  presented.  But  we  would  say  to  the 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side  of  the  chamber  :  You  have  the  power  to  -  day  ; 
you  can  elect  your  committees  as  you  see  fit  ;  you  can  give  us  one  represent 
ative  on  a  committee  of  five,  or  one  on  a  committee  of  seven,  or  none  on  any 
of  the  committees,  if  you  think  proper.  Exercise  that  power  in  your  own 
discretion  ;  but,  gentlemen,  beware  !  for  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the 
measure  you  mete  out  to  us  to  -  day  shall  be  meted  to  you  again. 


INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS.  107 

Senators  Pugh,  Bayard,  Gwin  and  Brown,  from  the  Demo 
cratic  side,  defended  the  list  as  presented  by  Mr.  Allen,  and  his 
resolution  for  its  appointment  was  adopted  by  a  strict  party 
vote  of  thirty  to  nineteen.  The  Republican  protests  were  again 
unheeded  by  the  Senate,  but  in  less  than  four  years  Mr.  Chand 
ler's  prediction,  that  the  situation  would  be  reversed,  was  fulfilled. 

Before  Mr.  "Chandler  entered  the  Senate  there  had  been  some 
work  done  by  the  United  States  upon  the  most  serious  natural 
obstacle  to  the  navigation  of  the  Great  Lakes,  the  tortuous  channels 
and  extensive  shoals  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Clair  river,  known 
as  the  "  St..  Clair  Flats."  Largely  through  Senator  Cass's  efforts 
an  appropriation  of  §-±5,000  had  been  made  in  the  Thirty- 
fourth  Congress  ( it  was  passed  over  Franklin  Pierce's  veto )  for 
this  work,  and  this  sum  had  been  expended  under  the  super 
vision  of  Major  Whipple  in  the  clearing  out  of  a  channel  through 
the  shoals  of  about  6,000  feet  in  length,  150  feet  in  width,  and 
nine  feet  in  depth  at  low  water.  This  improvement,  valuable  as 
it  was,  did  not  prove  at  all  adequate,  and  was  made  much  less 
useful  in  the  few  following  years  by  a  lessening  in  the  depth  of 
the  water  of  Lake  St.  Clair.  The  rapidly -growing  commerce  of 
the  lakes  manifestly  demanded  the  early  construction  and  per 
manent  maintenance  through  these  shoals  of  a  first  -  class  ship 
canal,  which  could  be  safely  used  in  all  conditions  of  water 
and  weather  by  vessels  of  the  largest  class.  Mr.  Chandler  clearly 
perceived  the  necessity  for  this  important  national  work,  deter 
mined  to  rest  not  until  its  completion,  and  commenced  at  once  his 
attack  on  the  great  obstacles  in  its  way  —  namely,  the  disposition 
of  the  older  States  to  undervalue  the  commercial  importance  of 
the  Northwest,  and  the  traditional  hostility  of  the  Democracy  to 
all  internal  improvements.  The  first  measure,  which  (on  January 
14,  1858)  Mr.  Chandler  gave  notice  of  his  intention  to  introduce, 
was  a  bill  ''making  an  additional  appropriation  for  deepening 
the  channel  of  the  St.  Clair  Flats;"  when  introduced  it  was 


16S  ZACHAR1AH    CHANDLER. 

referred  to  the  Committee  on  Commerce.  There  an  effort  was 
made  to  strangle  it  by  persistent  inaction.  Accordingly,  on  April 
24,  Mr.  Chandler  introduced  in  the  Senate  a  resolution  instruct 
ing  the  Committee  on  Commerce  to  report  back  this  bill  for 
action  by  the  Senate.  This  resolution  not  receiving  immediate 
consideration,  on  May  3  he  called  it  up  ar/d  demanded  a  vote. 
Mr.  Clay,  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  opposed  it  with  much 
temper,  and  moved  to  lay  it  on  the  table,  but  this  motion  was 
lost  by  one  vote.  Mr.  Clay  then  attacked  Mr.  Chandler's  resolu 
tion  as  insulting  to  the  Committee  on  Commerce,  and  said  he 
spurned  the  idea  that  the  committee  could  be  instructed  to 
report  in  favor  of  a  certain  appropriation  for  a  certain  work, 
and  that  he  should  despise  himself  if  he  was  capable  of  obeying 
such  instructions.  Mr.  Ilamlin,  the  sole  .Republican  member, 
expressed  his  gratification  at  the  fact  that  the  Senator  from 
Michigan  (Mr.  Chandler)  had  offered  this  resolution;  he  thought 
that  it  was  appropriate,  and  that  the  action  of  the  committee 
called  for  such  instructions.  Mr.  Clay  having  inquired,  "  What 
"  is  the  use  of  having  a  Cabinet  or  an  engineer  corps,  if  the 
"  Senate  is  to  take  these  matters  into  its  own  hands  ? "  Mr. 
Ilamlin  replied,  "What  is  the  use  of  a  Senate,  if  the  Com- 
"  mittee  on  Commerce,  or  the  Cabinet  officers,  or  the  engineer 

O 

"corps,  are  to  control  these  matters?''  and  insisted  that  the  Com 
mittee  on  Commerce  was  a  creature  of  the  Senate,  within  its 
control,  and  that  if  it  differed  from  the  Senate  in  regard  to  any 
proposition  before  it,  that  body  had  the  right  to  instruct  the 
committee  what  action  to  take.  He  added  that  because  the  com 
mittee  had  agreed  to  make  no  appropriation  excepting  for  certain 
specific  matters,  it  did  not  follow  that  the  Senate  must  adopt  its 
views,  and  be  controlled  thereby ;  that  the  servant  had  no  right 
nor  authority  to  bind  the  master,  and  that  the  committee  was 
the  servant  of  the  Senate.  Mr.  Clay  finally  yielded  the  point 
that  the  Senate  had  the  right  to  order  a  committee  to  icport 


INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS.  169 

back  the  bill,  but  still  objected  to  the  proposition  to  have  it 
instructed  to  specify  a  certain  amount  to  be  appropriated,  and 
Mr.  Chandler  consented  to  modify  his  resolution  so  as  to  instruct 
the  committee  to  report  back  the  bill  for  the  action  of  the 
Senate  without  recommendation  as  to  the  amount  of  the  appro 
priation.  Mr.  Benjamin,  at  this  point,  moved,  as  a  substitute 
for  the  pending  resolution,  a  general  order  to  the  committee 
to  report  on  all  public  works  upon  which  there  had  been  any 
expenditure,  and  this  motion  prevailed.  Mr.  Chandler,  who 
was  after  a  specific  point  and  not  a  mere  generality,  accepted 
this  as  a  defeat,  and  began  anew  by  giving  notice  on  the  spot 
that  he  should  ask  leave  at  a  subsequent  day  to  introduce  a  bill 
for  the  improvement  of  the  St.  Clair  Flats,  making  an  appro 
priation  of  $55,000,  this  being  the  amount  estimated  by  the 
United  States  engineers  as  necessary  at  that  time.  On  May  10 
he  presented  this  bill,  but  the  Senate  refused  to  refer  it,  and 
adopted  a  motion  to  lay  it  upon  the  table.  Mr.  Chandler  met 
this  second  defeat  without  discouragement,  and  later  in  the  ses 
sion  did  succeed  after  two  efforts  in  procuring  the  addition  of 
this  item  of  §55,000  to  the  civil  appropriation  bill.  But  the 
threat  of  an  executive  veto  of  the  whole  measure,  if  this  appro 
priation  was  not  omitted,  proved  potent  with  the  Senate,  and 
it  was  ultimately  stricken  out.  Mr.  Chandler  closed  his  last 
speech  on  this  measure  at  that  session,  with  a  demand  for  a 
vote  by  yeas  and  nays,  and  these  words: 

I  want  to  see  who  is  friendly  to  the  great  Northwest,  and  who  is  not  — 
for  we  are  about  making  our  last  prayer  here.  The  time  is  not  far  distant 
when,  instead  of  coming  here  and  begging  for  our  rights,  we  shall  extend  our 
hands  and  take  the  blessing.  After  1860  we  shall  not  be  here  as  beggars. 

Of  this  resolute  struggle  of  his  first  Congressional  session, 
Mr.  Chandler  said  in  an  address  at  St.  Johns,  in  Michigan,  on 
Oct.  17,  1858  : 

"When  I  took  my  seat  in  the  Senate  I  supposed  every  section  of  the 
country  would  be  fairly  heard  in  the  details  of  business.  There  were  twenty 


170  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER. 

Republican  Senators  representing  two -thirds  the  revenue,  business  and  wealth 
of  the  country.  How  were  they  placed  on.  committees  '!  Out  of  seven  in  the 
Committee  on  Commerce  they  had  one.  I  call  attention  to  this  i'act.  It  bears 
the  mark  of  design.  How  does  this  work  ?  .  .  .  I  introduced  at  an  early 
day  a  bill  appropriating  money  for  the  St.  Clair  Flats,  and  it  went  to  this 
Southern  Committee  on  Commerce.  I  procured  all  the  necessary  maps  and 
plans  and  estimates,  and  gave  them  into  their  charge.  One  hundred  days 
rolled  away  and  they  had  not  deigned  to  examine  them.  I  then  introduced  a 
resolution  instructing  them  to  report.  Subsequently  I  introduced  a  bill  myself 
which  was  laid  on  the  table.  By  the  most  untiring  efforts  I  succeeded  in 
getting  the  desired  appropriation  tacked  upon  an  appropriation  bill  and  passed. 
But  the  President's  friends  threatened  a  veto  of  the  whole  bill  unless  this  was 
stricken  out  —  and  that  was  done.  Thus  committees  were  packed  against  us 
and  we  were  thwarted  at  every  turn.  Thousands  of  dollars  can  be  obtained 
for  almost  any  creek  in  the  South,  while  the  inland  seas  of  the  North  are 
denied  a  dollar,  and  we  are  left  to  take  care  of  ourselves  the  best  we  can. 

The  second  session  of  the  Thirty -fifth  Congress  began  in 
December,  1858,  and  on  the  21st  of  that  month  Mr.  Chandler 
moved  to  take  his  St.  Clair  Flats  bill  from  the  table.  This  time 
it  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  29  to  22,  and  sent  to  the  House  where 
it  encountered  a  vigorous  opposition  but  was  finally  passed, 
its  introducer  working  for  it  with  the  utmost  energy  in  the 
committee  -  rooms,  on  the  floor,  and  by  private  solicitation.  It 
reached  Mr.  Buchanan  in  the  last  days  of  that  Congress,  and  he 
killed  it  by  withholding  his  signature  but  without  a  formal  veto. 
The  Thirty -sixth  Congress  met  in  December,  1859,  and  on  the 
4th  of  January  Mr.  Chandler's  bill  to  deepen  the  St.  Clair  Flats 
channel  made  its  appearance.  On  February  2  Mr.  Buchanan 
informed  Congress,  in  a  special  message,  of  his  reasons  for 
"  pocketing "  the  measure  at  the  last  session.  This  veto  took 
the  position  that  the  improvement  of  harbors  and  the  deepening 
of  the  channels  of  rivers  should  be  done  by  the  respective  States, 
and  suggested  that  Michigan  in  conjunction  with  Upper  Canada 
should  provide  the  necessary  means  to  carry  out  the  contemplated 
improvements  in  the  channels  of  commerce  between  those  two 
countries,  whereas  the  plain  fact  was  that  the  interest  of  that 
State  in  such  works  was  a  mere  tithe  of  that  of  the  whole 


INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS.  '171 

Northwest.  Mr.  Chandler  reviewed  this  message  at  length  in 
the  Senate  on  February  6,  exposing  Mr.  Buchanan's  misstate- 
ments  in  detail,  and  denouncing  the  Democratic  construction  of 
the  constitution.  Jefferson  Davis  at  once  came  to  the  defense  of 
the  veto  on  constitutional  grounds,  and  a  running  debate  followed 
on  the  subject  between  Messrs.  Chandler  and  Bingham  of  Mich 
igan,  Ilamlin,  Crittenden,  Davis,  Toombs,  Wigfall  and  others. 
Mr.  Crittenden  condemned  the  veto,  while  Toombs  and  Wigfall 
joined  Davis  in  its  defense.  Thus  the  plotters  of  rebellion 
assumed  a  hypocritical  attitude  as  defenders  of  the  constitution. 
Their  treasonable  daggers  were  yet  concealed  beneath  their  Sena 
torial  togas,  as  they  stood  in  their  high  places  and  assumed  a 
virtue  that  they  never  had,  that  of  being  patriots  with  a  deep 
regard  for  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land.  No  action  followed 
this  debate,  but  on  February  20  Mr.  Chandler  moved  that  his 
bill  be  made  the  special  order  for  the  23d.  This  motion  pre 
vailed,  but  when  that  day  arrived  the  Senate  refused  to  proceed 
with  its  consideration,  Mr.  Chandler  protesting  against  this  delay 
in  a  speech  pointing  out  the  necessity  for  prompt  action.  On 
March  13  he  moved  to  take  the  bill  from  the  table  but  the 
•  Senate  refused.  Six  days  later  he  renewed  the  motion  with  the 
same  result.  Eleven  days  after  that  he  did  succeed  in  getting 
the  measure  made  the  special  order  for  April  10,  but  again 
other  business  displaced  it,  and  so  no  action  was  taken  before 
adjournment.  The  second  session  of  this  Congress  commenced 
in  December,  1861,  with  civil  war  imminent  and  no  chance  for 
the  consideration  of  any  project  of  internal  improvement.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  next  Congress  the  Democracy  found  itself  in 
a  petty  minority,  and  remained  powerless  at  Washington  for 
many  years.  As  soon  as  it  became  plain  that  rebellion  could 
not  destroy  the  life  of  the  nation,  Mr.  Chandler  brought  forward 
again  his  bill  for  the  improvement  of  the  channels  at  the  head 
of  Lake  St.  Clair,  and  with  the  powerful  support  of  his  col- 


172  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

leagues  and  the  commercial  interests  of  the  Northwest  obtained 
without  difficulty  from  Republican  Congresses  such  appropria 
tions  as  were  required  for  the  prompt  construction  of  a  gieat 
ship -canal,  ranking  to-day  among  the  most  important  and  useful 
of  the  public  works  of  this  continent.  Its  history  and  statistics 
are  given  in  this  extract  from  an  official  report  for  the  year 
ending  June  30,  1879 : 

This  canal  ( according  to  its  present  plan )  was  projected  by  Col.  T.  J. 
Cram,  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  in  August,  1806,  as  the  best  method  of 
improving  navigation  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Clair  river.  He  proposed  open 
ing  the  lower  tortuous  reach  of  the  south  channel,  and  making  a  direct  cut 
from  its  mouth  proper  to  deep  water  in  Lake  St.  Clair.  His  project  was 
approved,  and  construction  began  on  the  20th  of  August,  1867,  under  contract 
with  Mr.  John  Brown  of  Thorold,  Canada.  The  original  plan  was  a  straight 
canal  300  feet  wide  in  the  clear,  and  13  feet  deep  at  low  stage  of  water,  pro 
tected  by  dykes  5  feet  in  height  and  58  feet  wide  on  top,  built  of  the  material 
dredged  from  the  channel  and  thrown  behind  a  pile  and  timber  revetment. 
The  canal  was  completed  in  the  autumn  of  1871,  and  turned  over  to  the 
charge  of  Maj.  O.  M.  Poe,  Corps  of  Engineers,  on  the  llth  of  December.  As 
completed,  the  banks  are  7,221  feet  in  length,  and  constructed  mostly  of 
dredged  sand  thrown  behind  a  revetment  consisting  of  piling  in  two  rows 
driven  13  feet  apart  and  parallel,  and  capped  with  a  timber  superstructure 
5  feet  high,  the  front  row  being  supplemented  with  a  single  row  of  sheath- 
piling  to  prevent  the  sand  bank  from  washing  back  into  the  canal.  As  origi 
nally  planned,  the  reverse  faces  of  the  embankment  were  to  be  permitted  to 
lake  their  natural  slope,  but  as  it  was  found  that  the  banks  if  left  so  would 
be  gradually  washed  away,  they  were  secured  eventually  by  a  pile  and  plank 
revetment.  The  timbers  in  the  superstructure  were  carbolized  to  prevent 
rotting,  but  the  process  proved  a  disastrous  failure,  owing  to  its  imperfect 
application,  and  the  timbers  thus  treated  are  as  a  general  rule  at  this  date 
a  mere  shell  with  a  core  of  dry  rot.  The  banks  were  planted  with  willows 
and  sodded  in  some  places.  The  history  of  the  work  since  Major  Poe  took 
charge,  excepting  as  regards  the  deepening  of  the  channel  for  200  feet  of  its 
width  to  a  depth  of  16  feet,  as  projected  by  that  officer,  has  been  a  monoto 
nous  routine  of  stopping  leaks  on  the  canal  face,  due  to  the  imperfection  of  the 
single  row  of  sheath  -  piling,  which  permits  the  sand  to  be  sucked  through  by 
passing  vessels,  and  propeller  -  wheels  working  near  the  revetment.  These 
leaks  have  been  stopped  from  time  to  time  at  various  points  by  various  devices, 
such  as  marsh  sod,  etc.  .  .  .  The  deepening  of  the  canal  was  begun  under 
Major  Poe's  direction  by  contract  with  Mr.  John  Brown  of  Thorold,  Canada, 
in  June,  1873,  and  finished  September  23,  1878,  under  the  direction  of  Major 
Weitzel,  who  had  in  the  meanwhile  relieved  Major  Poe. 


ITtt  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Up  to  the  time  when  the  canal  was  turned  over  as  completed  to  Major 
Poe,  it  cost  in  construction  and  repair  $472,837.84.  There  was  subsequently 
expended  by  Majors  Poe  and  Weitzel  $101,533.63,  partly  in  repairs,  but  mainly 
in  deepening  the  canal  ;  and  afterward,  up  to  the  close  of  the  present  fiscal 
year,  $19,162.78  were  expended  in  repairs  and  protection.  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  the  canal  has  thus  far  cost  $586,111.56  in  construction,  improvement  and 

repair Colonel    Cram's    original    estimate    of    the    cost   of    this   work 

was  $428,754.  The  whole  amount  appropriated  has  been  $590,000.  The 
annual  cost  of  maintenance  is  $5,000.  There  are  two  light -houses  on  the 
banks. 

The  value  of  the  commerce  which  annually  passes  between 
the  willow  -  clad  piers  of  the  canal  is  estimated  by  hundreds  of 
millions,  and  in  every  season  its  cost  has  been  more  than  made 
good  by  the  disasters  and  delays  it  has  averted.  Mr.  Chandler 
regarded  his  efforts  to  secure  its  construction  as  the  hardest  fight 
of  his  Congressional  service,  and  there  is  nothing  in  his  public 
life  more  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  man  than  the  skill, 
energy,  and  persistence  with  which  he  championed  this  measure 
in  the  face  of  the  strongest  obstacles,  and  in  spite  of  repeated 
defeats,  session  after  session  and  Congress  after  Congress,  until 
entire  success  crowned  his  labors.  Many  others  co  -  operated  with 
him  and  aided  in  securing  the  ultimate  victory ;  but  circum 
stances  and  his  indomitable  will  placed  him  at  the  front  in  the 
decisive  struggle,  and  this  great  public  work  is  an  enduring 
monument  of  the  value  of  his  services  to  the  vast  commercial 
interests  of  the  Northwest. 

At  the  second  session  of  the  Thirty -fifth  Congress  the 
earnest  protests  of  the  year  before  bore  fruit,  and  the  Committee 
on  Commerce  then  appointed  was  composed  of  Senators  Clay  of 
Alabama,  chairman,  Bigler  of  Pennsylvania,  Toombs  of  Georgia, 
Reid  of  North  Carolina,  Allen  of  Rhode  Island,  Hamlin  of 
Maine,  and  Chandler  of  Michigan.  '  This  commenced  Mr.  Chand 
ler's  connection  with  that  committee;  he  remained  a  member  of 
it  throughout  all  his  Senatorial  terms,  and  was  its  chairman  and 
inspiring  spirit  during  the  years  of  its  greatest  activity  and  use- 


INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS.  175 

fulness.  It  is  one  of  the  most  important  standing  committees  of 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  during  Mr.  Chandler's 
chairmanship  its  labors  were  gradually  increased,  partly  through, 
the  growing  business  and  commerce  of  the  country,  and  partly 
by  having  new  topics  assigned  for  its  consideration  and  action, 
because  of  the  prompt  attention  and  rigid  scrutiny  given  to  all 
matters  coming  under  the  supervision  of  Mr.  Chandler  as  its 
head.  To  this  committee  are  referred  under  the  rules  nomina 
tions  of  collectors  of  customs,  appraisers  of  merchandise,  surveyors 
of  customs,  of  officers  appointed  to  or  promoted  in  the  revenue 
marine  service,  of  the  chief  officers  in  the  life  -  saving  service, 
and  of  all  incumbents  of  consular  positions.  It  also  considers 
bills  fixing  the  compensation  of  such  officers ;  bills  relating 
to  marine  hospitals  and  the  customs,  consular  and  life-saving 
services ;  bills  concerning  the  interests  of  the  commercial  marine 
of  the  country,  including  the  registry,  enrollment  and  license 
of  vessels,  their  inspection  and  measurement,  tonnage -tax, 
entrance  and  clearance  fees,  names  and  official  numbers,  the  lights 
to  be  carried,  the  steam  pressure  allowed,  the  providing  of  small 
boats  and  life-saving  apparatus  on  passenger  steamers,  and 
restrictions  upon  the  number  of  passengers  or  kind  of  freight ; 
and  bills  granting  medals  for  heroic  service  in  saving  life  in  case 
of  shipwreck  or  similar  disaster.  To  it  are  referred  all  measures 
for  the  improvement  of  rivers  and  harbors  in  the  interests  of 
commerce ;  for  the  construction  of  breakwaters,  harbors  of  refuge, 
ship  -  canals,  and  locks  for  slack -water  navigation;  for  the 
building  of  bridges  across  navigable  rivers,  or  other  waters  of 
the  United  States  ;  for  the  establishment  of  ports  of  entry  and 
ports  of  delivery ;  for  the  establishment  of  customs  collection 
districts  or  changing  the  boundaries  thereof ;  granting  American 
registers  to  foreign  vessels  (usually  passed  where  a  wreck  of  a 
foreign  vessel  has  been  purchased  and  rebuilt  by  an  American 
citizen ) ;  and  relating  to  the  duties  and  districts  of  supervising 


170  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

and  subordinate  inspectors  of  steam  craft.  There  is  hardly  any 
conceivable  question  relating  to  vessels  of  the  United  States  that 
Congress  has  not  power  to  act  upon,  and  such  matters,  unless 
pertaining  to  the  naval  service,  are  always  referred  to  the  respect 
ive  committees  on  commerce  of  the  Senate  and  House,  Con 
gress  as  a  rule  following  their  recommendations  where  no 
political  question  is  involved.  In  addition  to  an  immense  mass 
of  measures  coming  under  the  classes  enumerated,  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Commerce,  during  Mr.  Chandler's  connection  with 
it,  considered  and  reported  bills  to  admit  ship  -  building  material 
free  of  duty,  to  prevent  the  extermination  of  the  fur- bearing 
seals  of  Alaska,  authorizing  the  appointment  of  shipping  com 
missioners,  and  defining  a  gross  of  matches.  All  these  facts  are 
recited  to  show  the  great  variety  of  questions  that  are  referred 
to  the  Senate  Committee  on  Commerce  —  greater  than  are  sent 
to  any  other  Congressional  committee. 

!No  particular  changes  took  place  in  the  personnel  of  this 
committee  as  already  given  until  in  the  last  year  of  Buchanan's 
administration.  At  the  closing  session  of  the  Thirty-sixth  Con 
gress  it  consisted  of  C.  C.  Clay,  chairman,  Bigler,  Toombs, 
Clingman,  Saulsbury,  Ilamlin,  and  Chandler.  Senator  Hamlin 
having  been  elected  Yice  -  President,  resigned  (in  January,  1861) 
his  Senatorship,  and  Mr.  Baker  of  Oregon  was  appointed  to  fill 
the  vacancy  thus  caused  on  this  committee.  In  the  middle  of 
January  Mr.  Clay  resigned  to  join  the  rebellion,  and  A.  O.  P. 
Nicholson  of  Tennessee  was  made  a  member  of  the  committee 
in  his  place.  On  the  24th  of  January,  1861,  by  the  unanimous 
consent  of  the  Senate,  the  Yice  -  President  filled  all  the  vacancies 
on  the  standing  committees  caused  by  the  retiring  of  the  Southern 
Senators,  and  the  Committee  on  Commerce  then,  as  re -consti 
tuted,  consisted  of  Senators  Bigler,  chairman,  Clingman,  Sauls- 
bury,  Chandler,  Baker,  and  Nicholson. 

At  the  special  session  of  the  Thirty  -  seventh  Congress  (in 
March,  1861)  the  Senate  committees  were  radically  re  -  organized, 


INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS.  ITT 

and  the  new  Committee  on  Commerce,  the  first  appointed  by 
the  Republican  party,  consisted  of  Zachariah  Chandler,  chairman, 
.Preston  King.  Lot  M.  Morrill,  Henry  Wilson,  Thomas  L.  Cling- 
man,  Willard  Saulsbury,  and  Andrew  Johnson.  Mr.  Chandler 
continued  in  the  chairmanship  until  he  ceased  to  be  a  member 
of  the  Senate  in  1875.  Mr.  Clingman  soon  joined  the  rebels, 
and  his  place  on  the  committee  was  filled  by  Mr.  Ten  Eyck  of 
New  Jersey.  From  session  to  session  changes  were  made  in  its 
membership,  and  among  the  names  on  its  rolls  during  the  fourteen 
years  that  Mr.  Chandler  sat  at  the  head  of  its  table  were  Edwin 
D.  Morgan,  James  H.  Lane,  Solomon  Foot,  Timothy  O.  Howe, 
James  W.  Nesmith,  Justin  S.  Morrill,  John  A.  J.  Creswell, 
George  F.  Edmunds,  James  R.  Doolittle,  William  P.  Kellogg, 
George  E.  Spencer,  Roscoe  Conkling,  William  A.  Buckingham, 
J.  R.  West,  John  H.  Mitchell,  John  B.  Gordon,  George  R. 
Dennis,  and  George  S.  Boutwell.  Mr.  Chandler  was  succeeded 
in  the  chairmanship  when  he  left  the  Senate  by  Roscoe  Conkling 
of  New  York ;  soon  after  he  was  re  -  elected  in  18T9  the  Demo 
crats  regained  control,  and  the  Committee  on  Commerce  of 
the  Forty -sixth  Senate  was  organized  by  them.  Mr.  Chandler 
was  made  a  member  of  it,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  it 
consisted  of  Senator  Gordon  of  Georgia,  chairman,  Ransom  of 
North  Carolina,  Randolph  of  New  Jersey,  Hereford  of  West 
Virginia,  Coke  of  Texas,  Conkling  of  New  York,  McMillan  of 
Minnesota,  Jones  of  Nevada,  and  Chandler  of  Michigan. 

Mr.  Chandler's  business  principles  were  carried  out  in  his 
committee  work  as  thoroughly  as  they  had  been  in  his  mercan 
tile  career.  He  believed  that  what  was  worth  doing  at  all  was 
worth  doing  well.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  Senate  Committee 
on  Commerce  to  assemble  formally  once  a  week,  for  the  con 
sideration  of  such  petitions  and  bills  as  had  been  referred  to  it 
for  action.  Whenever  the  appointed  hour  for  meeting  arrived 
Mr.  Chandler  was  always  in  his  seat,  while  its  other  members  but 
12 


ITS  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

rarely  displayed  anything  like  his  promptitude.  It  annoyed  the 
chairman  to  have  any  one  late,  and  it  was  his  custom  to  proceed 
with  business  as  soon  as  a  quorum  was  present,  or  if  no  quorum 
appeared  within  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  to  assume  that  there 
was  one  and  commence  work ;  no  protests  against  this  course 
were  ever  made  by  the  tardy  or  absent  members.  The  location 
of  the  room  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Commerce  during  Mr. 
Chandler's  whole  term  of  Senatorial  service  was  in  the  north 
west  corner  of  the  capitol,  on  the  floor  leading  to  the  galleries. 
Its  windows  look  down  upon  the  city  of  Washington,  vr?'th  the 
broad,  historic  Potomac  and  the  forest  -  crowned  Virginia  hilk  ^ 
the  distance,  and  the  sunset  view  from  them —  including  the  blue 
glimmering  river,  the  golden  gossamer  clouds,  the  green  foliage 
upon  the  brow  of  the  hills  in  the  extreme  horizon  —  could  never 
be  excelled  in  an  artist's  most  vivid  conception. 

The  first  bill  reported  by  Mr.  Chandler  as  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Commerce  was  one  to  provide  for  the  collection 
of  duties  on  imports  and  for  other  purposes.  He  brought  it  in 
five  days  after  the  appointment  of  the  committee  at  the  first 
session  of  the  Thirty  -  seventh  Congress,  and  asked  that  it  should 
be  put  upon  its  passage  at  once.  A  single  objection  carried  it 
over  under  the  rules  until  the  next  day,  when  it  was  passed  by 
a  vote  of  36  to  6.  The  scope  of  the  bill  was  extensive.  It 
provided  for  confiscating  to  the  United  States  all  vessels  belong 
ing  to  rebels,  for  closing  ports  of  entry  in  rebellious  States,  and 
for  the  employment  of  additional  revenue  cutters.  It  also  author 
ized  the  President  under  certain  circumstances  to  declare  by 
proclamation  States,  sections,  or  parts  of  States,  in  insurrection 
against  the  United  States,  and  prohibited  all  commercial  inter 
course  between  such  insurrectionary  States,  or  parts  of  States, 
and  the  rest  of  the  Union  so  Ions:  as  the  insurrection  should 

o 

continue.  It  was  thus  among  the  earliest  and  most  important  of 
the  war  measures. 


INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS.  179 

It  is  not  necessary  to  occupy  space  with  the  details*  of  the 
enormous  mass  of  business  transacted  by  the  Senate  Committee 
on  Commerce  during  Mr.  Chandler's  chairmanship.  It  was  in 
those  years  that  the  sentiment  of  every  section,  in  favor  of 
extending  the  fostering  care  of  the  government  to  the  aid  of 
internal  commerce,  was  consolidated  and  organized  until  it  bore 
down  all  opposition  and  completely  reversed  the  general  policy 
and  practice  of  the  United  States.  How  important  and  complete 
this  revolution  was  will  appear  from  the  table  of  the  appropri 
ations  for  river,  harbor  and  kindred  improvements  made  at 
successive  Congressional  sessions  since  the  foundation  of  the 
republic. 

Mr.  Chandler  was  the  firm  friend  of  an  intelligently -planned 
and  general  system  of  internal  improvements.  His  labors,  and 
those  of  men  like  him,  have  borne  fruit  in  manifold  aids  to 
commerce  scattered  over  river,  lake  and  ocean  —  light  -  houses, 
break  -  waters,  harbors  of  refuge,  straightened  and  deepened  chan- 

*  Mr.  Chandler  entered  the  Senate  when  Congress  was  under  the  control  of  Demo 
cratic  majorities.  He  was  in  the  minority,  but  he  never  feared  to  assert  his  views,  and 
denounce  measures  of  doubtful  advantage  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country.  The  policy 
of  the  dominant  party  had  been  uniformly  adverse  to  internal  improvements  — especially 
to  making  appropriations  for  harbor  and  river  improvements.  Soon  after  taking  his  seat, 
Mr.  Chandler  brought  this  important  subject  before  the  Senate,  and  insisted  upon  the 
necessity  of  fostering  and  aiding  internal  commerce.  He  introduced  several  measures, 
with  this  object  in  view.  .  .  These  improvements  were  not  then  considered  ;  but  his 
vigorous  speeches  and  persistent  efforts  subsequently  compelled  their  partial  recognition, 
and  Mr.  Chandler  was  placed  on  the  Committee  of  Commerce,  of  which  lie  was  made 
chairman  when  the  Republican  party  came  into  power,  and  so  continued  to  the  end  of  ins 
Senatorial  labors.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  for  it  is  only  the  truth,  that  to  Mr.  Chandler's 
untiring  zeal  in  this  capacity,  the  country  is  indebted  for  many  of  those  magnificent 
harbor  and  river  improvements,  which  have  been  made  since  the  Republican  party 
came  into  power.  Says  a  recent  writer  — an  excellent  authority  .  "The  evidences  of  their 
"utility  are  seen  on  every  hand,  scattered  along  our  seaboard,  along  our  extended  lake 
"coast,  and  upon  all  our  rivers.  The  beneficent  effects  of  these  improvements  are  demon- 
"strated  by  our  vastly -increased  and  increasing  commerce,  its  greater  safety,  the  economy 
"with  which  the  work  is  performed,  the  extraordinary  development  of  our  agricultural 
"and  mineral  resources  and  the  increased  compensation  of  productive  labor." 
Reference  is  thus  made  to  Mr.  Chandler's  efforts  in  behalf  of  those  great  internal  improve 
ments  in  aid  of  the  commerce  and  internal  development  of  the  country,  in  order  to 
demonstrate  his  peculiar  fitness  for  the  position  which  he  has  just  been  commissioned  to 
fill.  —  Editorial  of  the  Washington  Chronicle  of  Oct.  20,  1875,  announcing  the  appointment 
of  Zachariah  Chandler  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 


180 


ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER. 


TABLE  GIVING  THE  TOTAL  AMOUNT  OP  MONEY  APPROPRIATIONS  BY  CONGRESS 
FOR  THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  RIVERS  AND  HARBORS  AND  THE  CONSTRUC 
TION  OF  SHIP  -  CANALS  SINCE  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  : 


Imore  Polk-  Tyler.  VanBuren.  Jackson.  J.Q.Adams.  Monroe. 

YEARS. 

'1822*  . 
1823  .  . 
_  1824  . 
'1825  .  . 
1826   , 
1827  .  . 
1828 

AMOUNT. 

$34,200 
6,150 
.  .  .  .      145,000 
40,600 
88,900 
.  .  .   160,200 
565  300 

Hayes.  Grant.  Johnson.  Lincoln.  Buchanan.  Pierce. 

YEARS. 

r!853 
1854 

1855 
,1856t 

'1857 
1858 
1859 
^1860 

'iser 

1862 
1863 
1864 
'1865 
1866 
1867 
^1868 
'1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875, 
1876 
'  1877 
1878 
.1879 

TOTA 

AMOUNT. 

$900 
140,000 

775,000 

Term  of  Z.  Chandler  as  Chairman  of  the 
Senate  Committee  on  Commerce. 

.... 

(1829 

.....   254,200 

1830   . 
1831  .  . 
1832 

377,600 
637,000 
693  500 

.  .  .    537,500 
....   23,000 
.  ,  .   3,579,700 
.  .  .  .  4,816,300 
.  .  .   1,601,500 
....  2,200,000 
.  .  .   4,173,900 
....  5,047,000 
.  .  .   5,603,000 
....  6,102,900 
.  .  .   5,282,500 
....  6,643,500 
....   5,213,000 

1833  . 
1834 

546,300 
791  200 

1835 

505  200 

1336 

1  198  200 

'1837  . 
1838   . 
1839  . 
1840 

1,681,700 
.  .  .  .  .   1,467,200 
18  000 

(1841 

...     17  500 

1842   . 
1843 

233  000 

1844 

....    701  500 

(1845 

7  000 

1846   . 

1847  . 

.  .    .    14220 

L  1848   . 
(  1849  . 

8 

,337,000 
,912,600 

20,000 

...  7 

j  1850   . 
1  1851  . 

L. 

.  £80 

.292.270 

[1852 2,099,300 


NOTES. 

This  table  only  includes  $750,000  of  the  $5,250,000  appropriated  to  pay  Capt.  James 
B.  Eads  for  the  jetty  improvements  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  total  of  these  appropriations  during  the  years  of  Mr.  Chandler's  term  as  chairman 
was  $45,610,800,  or  more  than  one -half  of  the  entire  amount. 


*  There  were  no  appropriations  for  these  purposes  prior  to  1822. 

t  This  sum  was  contained  in  bills  which  were  passed  over  the  President's  veto  and 
included  the  first  appropriation  for  the  St.  Clair  Flats 


INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS.  181 

nels,  ship -canals  and  improved  natural  highways.  He  was 
prompt  to  recognize  the  claims  of  all  sections,  but  was  especially 
vigilant  in  regard  to  the  necessities  of  the  Northwest,  and  his 
memory  will  long  be  cherished  throughout  the  region  of  the 
Great  Lakes  as  that  of  the  most  ardent  and  efficient  champion 
of  its  commercial  development. 


CHAPTER    XT. 

THE     OUTBREAK    OF    THE     REBELLION NO    COMPROMISE     OF     CONSTITU 
TIONAL    RIGHTS. 

HE  news  of  the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  to  the 
Presidency  of  the  United  States  —  through  strictly  con 
stitutional  methods,  by  a  large  majority  of  the  electoral 
vote  and  by  a  plurality  of  over  half  a  million  in  the  pop 
ular  vote  —  was  received  with  cheering  and  expressions  of  joy  in 
many  of  the  Southern  cities.  The  men  who  exulted  there  were 
those  who  believed  that  with  this  pretext  sectional  passion  could 
be  kindled  into  instant  rebellion,  and  they  at  once  set  about  the 
work  of  consummating  disunion  before  the  close  of  the  term  of 
the  traitorous  and  imbecile  administration  of  James  Buchanan. 
On  'Nov.  12,  1860,  South  Carolina  ordered  the  election  of  a 
convention  to  take  the  formal  step  of  secession,  and  the  other 
cotton  States  promptly  followed  its  example.  Congress  met  on 
the  3d  of  December,  and  listened  to  a  message  from  President 
Buchanan,  in  which  he  said :  "  After  much  serious  reflection  I 
"  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  no  power  to  coerce  into 
"  submission  a  State  which  is  attempting  to  withdraw,  or  has 
"  actually  withdrawn,  from  the  confederacy,  has  been  delegated 
"  to  Congress  or  to  any  other  department  of  the  Federal  govern- 
"  ment.  It  is  manifest  upon  an  inspection  of  the  constitution 
"  that  this  is  not  among  the  specific  and  enumerated  powers 
"  granted  to  Congress ;  and  it  is  equally  apparent  that  its  exer- 
"  cise  is  not  '  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution ' 
"  any  one  of  these  powers."  On  December  20  South  Carolina 
adopted  its  ordinance  of  secession.  Mississippi  did  likewise  on 


FACING    TREASON.  183 

Jan.  9,  1861,  Florida  on  January  10,  Alabama  on  January  11, 
Georgia  on  January  18,  Louisiana  on  January  26,  and  Texas  on 
February  1.  On  Feb.  4,  1861,  a  convention  of  delegates  from 
the  seceding  States  met  in  the  city  of  Montgomery  and  proceeded 
to  form  and  organize  the  "  Southern  Confederacy."  These  events 
were  attended  by  popular  demonstrations  throughout  the  South, 
in  which  the  Union  was  denounced  with  unstinted  bitterness 
and  its  power  defied  with  the  utmost  audacity,  and  by  the  active 
drilling  of  the  local  militia  and  the  organization  of  large  bodies 
of  armed  men.  More  than  all  this,  the  officers  of  the  United 
States  in  that  section  abandoned  their  positions,  and  sub -treas 
uries,  post  -  offices,  large  sums  of  money,  arsenals,  arms,  ammuni 
tion,  fortifications,  arid  vessels  of  the  United  States  were  seized 
in  all  the  leading  cities  of  the  South,  and  used  to  prepare  for 
war  upon  the  power  from  which  they  had  been  stolen.  The 
value  of  the  government  property  thus  confiscated  by  the  rebels 
before  the  nation  tired  a  shot  was  not  less  than  $30,000,000. 
On  Jan.  5,  1861,  the  United  States  steamer  Star  of  the  West 
was  fired  upon  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston  and  driven  out  to 
sea,  and  within  that  month  a  bloodless  siege  of  Fort  McRae  at 
Pensacola  compelled  its  surrender  to  rebel  forces  by  a  United 
States  garrison.  Amid  these  events  the  traitors  in  Buchanan's 
Cabinet  boldly  resigned  their  portfolios,  and  Southern  Congress 
men  with  insolent  words  left  their  seats  at  the  capitol  "to  join 
their  States."  The  President  himself  was  fitly  described  by 
Henry  Winter  Davis  as  "  standing  paralyzed  and  stupefied  amid 
"  the  crash  of  the  falling  republic,  still  muttering,  '  Not  in  my 
"  time ;  not  in  my  time ;  after  me  the  deluge.' " 

There  were  three  ways  of  meeting  these  overt  acts  of  high 
treason,  namely:  (1.)  Submitting,  either  by  sympathy  and  con 
nivance,  by  frank  surrender,  or  by  an  equally  effective  supineness. 
(2.)  Meekly  offering  to  rampant  rebellion  the  bribe  of  fresh 
concessions  to  slavery.  »(3.)  Treating  armed  secession  as  treason 


184  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

and  its  promoters  as  traitors,  and  dealing  with  it  and  them  as 
such.  The  first  method  did  not  lack  for  supporters  outside  of 
the  South.  Thousands  of  Northern  Democrats  justified  secession 
and  promised  the  cotton  States  support.  Their  papers  predicted 
that  in  case  of  war  uit  would  be  fought  in  the  North,"*  that 
"  no  Democrat  would  be  found  to  raise  an  arm  against  his 
brethren  of  the  South,'"  f  and  that  u  if  troops  should  be  raised 
"  in  the  North  to  march  against  the  people  of  the  South,  a  fire 
"  in  the  rear  would  be  opened  upon  such  troops  which  would 
"  either  stop  their  march  altogether  or  wonderfully  accelerate  it."* 
The  Mayor  of  the  great  city  of  New  York  suggested  in  his 
annual  message  that  that  metropolis  might  well  consider  if  the 
time  did  not  seem  to  be  at  hand  when  it  could  profitably  throw 
off  allegiance  to  the  United  States  and  erect  itself  into  "a  free 
city."  In  public  meetings  and  in  party  conventions  like  utter 
ances  were  heard  and  applauded,  all  justifying  the  declaration  of 
Lawrence  M.  Keitt  in  the  city  of  Charleston  that  "  there  are  a 
"  million  of  Democrats  in  the  North  who,  when  the  Black 
"  Republicans  attempt  to  march  upon  the  South,  will  be  found  a 
"  wall  of  fire  in  their  front."  These  sympathizers  with  rebellion 
were  reinforced  by  the  holders  of  anti  -  coercion  theories,  by 
commercial  timidity,  and  —  most  unexpectedly  —  by  some  Repub 
lican  sentiment  in  favor  of  permitting  peaceful  separation  rather 
than  facing  civil  war.  This  sentiment  was  fortunately  short 
lived  and  not  cowardly  in  its  origin,  but  it  found  an  advocate 
in,  and  was  given  public  expression  by,  the  most  influential 
Republican  journalist  of  that  period,  Horace  Greeley,  and  it  did 
much  to  encourage  rebel  arrogance  and  to  distract  the  national 
councils.  But  that  was  the  most  numerous  class  which  comprised 
the  men  who  proposed  to  meet  actual  civil  war  with  servile 
tenders  to  traitors  in  arms  of  new  guarantees  for  slavery  and 
with  humble  petitions  for  their  acceptance.  With  the  meeting 

•"Detroit.  Mich.    "Free  Press."  fBangor,  Me.,  "Union." 


FACING    TREASON.  185 

of  Congress  in  December,  1860,  these  gentlemen  "became  the 
conspicuous  figures  at  Washington,  and  for  three  months  labored 
industriously  upon  compromise  schemes,  every  one  of  which  was, 
in  its  essence,  a  proposition  that  Freedom  should  do  homage  to 
Slavery,  and  that  the  verdict  of  the  people  at  the  polls  should 
be  shamefully  reversed  to  placate  men  who  had  deliberately 
plotted  treason,  and  who  again  and  again  rejected  with  frank 
contempt  offers  of  "  conciliation.''  There  were  some  who  co 
operated  in  these  movements  for  the  sake  of  gaining  time  and 
keeping  the  border  States  out  of  rebellion  until  Abraham  Lin 
coln  was  inaugurated,  but  the  great  source  of  the  compromise 
clamor  of  that  winter  was  either  some  feeling  of  friendliness  to 
the  slave  power  or  moral  flaccidity. 

It  need  not  be  said  that  Mr.  Chandler  was  not  found  in 
either  of.  these  classes.  For  three  years  he  had  regarded  this 
crisis  as  imminent.  He  did  not  believe  that  the  South  would 
now  abandon  its  cherished  dream  of  independent  empire  for  any 
compromise,  lie  did  not  propose  to  shrink  back  one  inch  before 
armed  rebellion  or  to  surrender  one  iota  of  principle  to  traitorous 
threats.  He  went  to  Washington  determined  to  maintain  the 
supremacy  of  the  government  at  every  cost,  to  listen  to  no  plans 
of  concession,  to  offer  to  disunionists  only  the  alternative  of 
obedience  to  the  constitution  or  the  penalties  of  treason,  and  to 
labor  incessantly  to  stir  into  indignant  action  the  slumbering 
sentiment  of  nationality  in  the  hearts  of  the  Northern  people. 
It  is  in  such  hours  that  men  of  his  indomitable  stamp  step  to 
the  front,  and  he  became  at  once  a  pioneer  leader  of  that 
uncompromising  and  tireless  spirit  which  was  the  citadel  of  the 
Union  cause.  He  spoke  but  rarely  on  political  questions  during 
the  last  session  of  the  Thirty -sixth  Congress,  but  was  active  in 
all  the  Republican  consultations  of  that  eventful  period.  In 
them  he  steadfastly  opposed  any  policy  that  savored  of  bending 
to  or  temporizing  with  rebellion,  and  in  the  face  of  not  a  little 


ISo  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Republican  demoralization  urged  that  the  crisis  should  be  met 
with  the  spirit  of  Jackson  and  of  Cromwell.  Speaking  of  this 
session  he  afterward  said :  "  If  I  could  have  had  my  way,  when 
"  treason  was  proclaimed  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  the  traitor 
"  would  never  have  gone  free  from  the  capitol."  With  the 
Southern  leaders  he  was  frank  in  his  denunciations  of  their 
course  and  plans.  In  a  chance  conversation  at  this  time  with 
the  craftiest  of  their  number,  Slidell  of  Louisiana,  he  asked  how 
the  pending  struggle  would  end,  and  Slidell  replied,  "  Oh,  we 
will  all  go  out,  and  the  Union  will  be  broken  up." 

"  And  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi?"  said  Mr.  Chandler. 

"  We  will,  of  course,  have  to  seize  and  hold  that,"  was  the 
answer,  "but  we  will  not  tax  your  commerce/' 

To  this,  Mr.  Chandler's  indignant  response  wras,  "We  own 
"  that  river,  Mr.  Slidell ;  we  bought  and  paid  for  it ;  and,  by 
"  the  Eternal,  we  are  going  to  keep  it.  It  was  a  desert  when 
"  we  bought  it,  and  we  will  make  it  a  desert  again  before  we 
"  will  let  you  steal  it  from  us." 

Mr.  Chandler  labored  assiduously  to  thwart  the  plots  of  the 
rebel  leaders,  and  to  make  such  preparation  as  was  possible  for 
the  coming  strife.  It  was  at  this  time  that  he  formed  that  close 
intimacy  with  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  which  continued  until  the 
death  of  "the  Carnot  of  the  United  States."  Mr.  Stanton,  as 
the  Attorney  -  General  of  the  "Buchanan  Cabinet  in  its  closing 

••'  O 

months,  rendered  service  of  the  largest  value  to  the  nation  by 
urging  vigorous  measures  on  his  imbecile  chief,  by  boldly  con 
fronting  the  traitors  who  were  among  his  colleagues,  and  by 
secretly  and  promptly  informing  the  Republican  leaders  of  each 
new  development  of  the  disunion  conspiracy  as  revealed  in  Cabinet 
consultations.  His  information  and  counsels  furnished  sure  guid 
ance  at  a  time  of  the  greatest  peril,  and  this  it  was  that  led  to 
the  early  appointment  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Secretaryship  of 


FACING    TREASON.  187 

War  of  a  man  whom  the  public  then  chiefly  knew  as  a  minor 
C  ibinet  officer  in  a  detested  administration.  Mr.  Chandler  always 
rated  Mr.  Stan  ton's  services  to  the  Union  cause  in  the  early 
months  of  1861  as  second  only  in  value  to  his  herculean  labors  in 
the  War  Department ;  placed  the  highest  estimate  upon  his  ability, 
vigor,  and  patriotism ;  aided  greatly  in  securing  his  appointment 
and  confirmation  as  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabinet ;  remained  his 
firm  friend  and  counselor,  and  was  largely  instrumental  in 
obtaining  from  President  Grant  the  nomination  to  the  justiceship 
of  the  Supreme  Court  which  so  shortly  preceded  his  death.  It 
was  also  at  this  time  that  Mr.  Chandler  began  to  distrust  the 
political  fidelity  of  Mr.  Seward,  whose  spoken  suggestions  of 
compromise  and  whose  persistent  negotiations  with  rebel  emis 
saries,  however  diplomatic  in  origin  and  intent,  were  fruitful 
sources  of  Southern  hope  and  Northern  weakness.  Time  increased 
rather  than  diminished  this  dislike,  and  Mr.  Chandler  wras  always 
an  impatient  critic  of  Mr.  Seward's  influence  upon  the  Lincoln 
administration,  and  saw  in  the  course  of  the  Secretary  of  State 
of  Andrew  Johnson's  Cabinet  only  the  fulfillment  of  his  own 
suspicions  and  predictions. 

The  secret  history  of  these  exciting  days,  teeming  with 
incident  and  concealing  many  startling  revelations,  has  yet  been 
but  sparingly  written ;  it  is  doubtful  if  the  veil  will  ever  be 
more  than  slightly  lifted.  Mr.  Chandler  himself  guarded  scrupu 
lously  from  public  knowledge  much  that  was  well  known  to  him 
and  a  few  associates  and  would  have  shed  light  on  the  hidden 
springs  of  actions  of  vast  moment.  This  class  of  information  he 
treated  as  state  secrets,  whose  perishing  with  the  actors  in  the 
great  drama  was  desirable  for  public  reasons.  A  well -known 
Washington  journalist,  who  dined  one  day  with  Mr.  Chandler 
and  Mr.  Wade,  and  listened  with  interest  to  their  reminiscences 
of  "war  times,"  suggested  to  these  gentlemen  that  their  recollec 
tions  should  be  recorded  while  they  wTere  still  fresh  for  the 


188  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

benefit  of  history,  and  did  succeed  at  first  in  obtaining  their 
consent  to  an  arrangement  by  which  the  two  "war  Senators" 
were  to  devote  one  evening  in  each  week  to  the  relation  of  the 
inside  history  of  the  period  between  the  fall  of  1860  and  the 
end  of  Johnson's  administration.  These  narratives  were  to  be 
taken  down  by  a  stenographer,  whose  notes  were  to  be  written 
out,  carefully  compiled,  and  subjected  to  the  revision  of  Messrs. 
Chandler  and  Wade.  The  manuscript  was  then  to  be  sealed  and 
placed  in  such  keeping  as  should  make  it  certain  that  it  would 
not  be  published  until  the  lapse  of  many  years.  On  the 
following  Saturday  night  the  literary  gentleman  was  promptly  at 
Mr.  Chandler's  residence  with  the  stenographer.  Mr.  Wade 
shortly  afterward  came  in,  and  at  once  said:  "I  have  been 
"  thinking  this  matter  over,  Chandler,  and  you  must  allow  me  to 
"  decline.  There  is  no  use  in  telling  what  we  know  unless  we 
"  tell  the  whole  truth,  and  if  I  tell  the  whole  truth  I  shall  blast 
"  too  many  reputations.  These  things  would  be  interesting  and 
"  valuable  if  they  were  preserved  in  a  book,  but  they  would  not 
4i  be  as  valuable  as  the  reputations  that  would  be  destroyed.  The 
"  days  we  were  going  to  talk  about  were  exciting  days,  when 
"  good  men  made  mistakes,  and  their  mistakes  ought  to  be  for- 
"  gotten."  Mr.  Chandler  promptly  assented,  and  the  reminis 
cences  were  never  written. 

In  the  Senate  at  this  time  Mr.  Chandler's  course  was  bold 
and  straightforward.  On  Feb.  19,  1861,  he  denounced  on  its 
floor  "  traitors  in  the  Cabinet  and  imbeciles  in  the  Presidential 
chair."  He  steadfastly  opposed  the  Crittenden  Compromise,  well 
described  by  Charles  Sunnier  as  "  the  great  surrender  to  slavery," 
and  the  circumstances  of  his  opposition  to  "the  Peace  Congress" 
attracted  national  attention  then  and  afterward.  The  Legisla 
ture  of  Virginia  in  January,  1861,  adopted  resolutions  inviting 
a  conference  of  delegates  from  the  various  States  to  meet  at 
Washington  on  February  4,  and  consider  how  the  pending 


FACING    TREASON.  189 

"unhappy  controversy"  could  be  adjusted  by  (of  course)  some 
plan  giving  "  to  the  people  of  the  slaveholding  States  adequate 
guarantees  for  the  security  of  their  rights."  Twenty -two  States 
answered  this  invitation,  and  their  representatives,  presided  over 
by  John  Tyler,  deliberated  in  Washington  for  nineteen  days,  and 
in  the  end  recommended  to  Congress  a  so-called  "compromise 
measure,"  which  was  thus  justly  characterized  at  the  time : 
"  Forbearing  all  details,  it  will  be  enough  to  -say  that  they  under- 
"  took  to  give  to  slavery  positive  protection  in  the  constitution, 
"with  new  sanction  and  immunity  —  making  it,  notwithstanding 
"  the  determination  of  the  fathers,  national  instead  of  sectional ; 
"  and,  even  more  than  this,  making  it  one  of  the  essential  and 
"  permanent  parts  of  our  republican  system."  Its  origin  and  its 
avowed  object  made  this  body  distrusted  from  the  outset  by  the 
sincere  anti- slavery  men,  who  did  not  believe  that  it  could 
accomplish  anything  except  to  still  farther  debauch  the  public 
mind  of  the  North.  The  result  proved  that  it  was  called  in  the 
interest  of  slavery,  and  was  designed  to  strengthen  that  system. 
Mr.  Chandler  from  the  outset  opposed  all  Republican  participa 
tion  in  this  Congress,  and,  through  the  urgent  recommendations 
of  its  Senators,  Michigan  was  one  of  the  five  Northern  States 
which  did  not  send  delegates.  But  after  the  Congress  had  met 
and  was  at  work,  it  was  thought  that  the  friends  of  freedom  on 
its  floor  might  be  able  to  accomplish  something  if  they  were 
increased  in  numbers,  and  accordingly  application  was  made  to 
Mr.  Chandler  and  Mr.  Bingham  to  procure  the  appointment  by 
their  State  of  delegates  who  could  take  their  seats  before  final 
action  was  reached.  Under  such  circumstances  those  gentlemen 
telegraphed  to  Lansing  a  request  for  the  appointment  of  a 
delegation,  and  followed  the  message  up  with  letters  of  the  same 
tenor,  which,  although  in  the  nature  of  private  communications 
to  Governor  Blair,  were  shown  at  Lansing,  and  soon  appeared 
in  the  newspapers ;  they  were  as  follows : 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER, 


WASHINGTON,  Feb.  11,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  GOVERNOR  :  Governor  Bingham  and  myself  telegraphed  you  on 
Saturday,  at  the  request  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York,  to  send  delegates  to 
the  Peace  or  Compromise  Congress.  They  admit  that  we  were  right  and  that 
they  were  wrong  ;  that  no  Republican  States  should  have  sent  delegates  but 
they  are  here,  and  cannot  get  away.  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Rhode  Island  are 
caving  in,  and  there  is  danger  of  Illinois  ;  and  now-  they  beg  of  us  for  God's 
sake  to  come  to  their  rescue,  and  save  the  Republican  party  from  rupture.  I 
hope  you  will  send  stiff-  backed  men  or  none.  The  whole  thing  was  gotten  up 
against  my  judgment  and  advice,  and  will  end  in  thin  smoke.  Still  I  hope  as 
a  matter  of  courtesy  to  some  of  our  erring  brethren,  that  you  will  send  the 
delegates.  Truly  your  friend,  Z.  CHANDLER. 

His  Excellency  Austin  Blair. 

P.  S.  Some  of  the  manufacturing  States  think  a  fight  would  be  awful. 
Without  a  little  blood-letting,  this  Union  will  not,  in  my  estimation,  be  worth 
a  rush. 

WASHINGTON,  Feb.  10,  1861. 

DEAR  SIR  :  When  Virginia  proposed  a  convention  in  Washington,  in 
reference  to  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  country,  I  regarded  it  as  another 
effort  to  debauch  the  public  mind  and  a  step  toward  obtaining  that  concession 
which  the  imperious  slave  power  so  insolently  demands.  I  have  no  doubt,  at 
present,  but  that  was  the  design.  I  was  therefore  pleased  that  the  Legislature 
of  Michigan  was  not  disposed  to  put  herself  in  a  position  to  be  controlled  by 
such  influences.  The  convention  has  met  here,  and  within  a  few  days  the 
aspect  of  things  has  materially  changed.  Every  free  State,  I  think,  except 
Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  is  represented,  and  we  have  been  assured  by  friends 
upon  whom  we  can  rely,  that,  if  those  two  States  should  send  delegations  of 
true,  unflinching  men,  there  would  probably  be  a  majority  in  favor  of  the 
constitution  as  it  is,  who  would  frown  down  the  rebellion  by  the  enforcement 
of  laws.  These  friends  have  urged  us  to  recommend  the  appointment  of  dele 
gates  from  our  State,  and  in  compliance  with  their  request,  Mr.  Chandler  and 
myself  telegraphed  to  you  last  night.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  recom 
mendations  of  this  convention  will  have  a  very  considerable  influence  upon 
the  public  mind  and  upon  the  action  of  Congress.  I  have  a  great  disinclination 
to  any  interference  with  what  should  properly  be  submitted  to  the  wisdom 
and  discretion  of  the  Legislature,  in  which  I  place  great  reliance.  But  I  hope 
I  shall  be  pardoned  for  suggesting  that  it  may  be  justifiable  and  proper  by 
any  honorable  means  to  avert  the  lasting  disgrace  which  will  attach  to  a  free 
people  who,  by  the  peaceful  exercise  of  the  ballot,  have  just  leleased  them 
selves  from  the  tyranny  of  slavery,  if  they  should  now  succumb  to  treasonable 
threats,  and  again  submit  to  a  degrading  thraldom.  If  it  should  be  deemed 
proper  to  send  delegates,  I  think  if  they  could  be  here  by  the  20th  it  would 
be  in  time.  I  have  the  honor,  with  much  respect,  to  be,  Yours  truly, 

K.  S.  BINGHAM. 


FACING    TREASON.  191 

The  Legislature  of  Michigan  refused  to  follow  even  these 
recommendations  (although  an  effort  to  make  the  two  Senators 
themselves  delegates  received  a  strong  support),  and  that  State 
was  not  represented  at  any  stage  of  the  abortive  Peace  Congress. 
On  the  27th  of  February  Senator  Powell  of  Kentucky  presented 
to  the  Senate  newspaper  copies  of  these  letters,  and  then  moved 
to  lay  aside  the  army  appropriation  bill  which  was  pending,  in 
order  that  the  Senate  could  proceed  at  once  to  amend  the  con 
stitution.  He  added  that  it  might  "  better  be  at  that  than  be 
"  appropriating  money  to  support  an  army  that  is  to  be  engaged, 
"  it  seems,  in  the  work  of  blood  -  letting."  Mr.  Chandler  followed 
by  stating  that  the  letter  was  a  private  one  of  which  no  copy 
had  been  preserved,  but  that  whether  the  printed  copy  was 
accurate  or  not  he  adopted  it  as  his,  and  would  at  another  time 
speak  on  the  questions  it  involved.  He  added :  "  The  people  of 
"  Michigan  are  opposed  to  all  compromises.  They  do  not  believe 
"  that  any  compromise  is  necessary ;  nor  do  I.  They  are  pre- 
"  pared  to  stand  by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  as  it 
"  is,  to  stand  by  the  government  as  it  is ;  aye,  sir,  to  stand  by 
"  it  to  blood  if  necessary."  On  the  2d  of  March  Mr.  Chandler 
made  his  promised  speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Powell.  He  com 
menced  :  "  I  desire  to  ask  the  Senator  whether,  after  we  have 
u  adopted  this  or  any  other  compromise,  he  is  prepared  to  go 
"  with  me,  and  with  the  Union  -  loving  men  of  this  nation,  for 
"enforcing  the  laws  of  the  United  States  in  the  thirty -four 
"  States  of  this  Union."  Powell's  response  was :  "I  am  for 
"  enforcing  the  laws  in  all  the  States  that  are  within  the 
"  Union,  but  1  am  opposed  to  making  war  on  the  States  that 
"  are  without  the  Union.  I  am  opposed  to  coercing  the  seceded 
"  States.  .  .  .  We  have  no  right,  under  the  constitution,  to 
"  make  war  on  those  States."  Upon  this  frank  admission  from 
one  of  its  most  ardent  advocates  of  the  utter  fruitlessness  of 
compromise,  this  confession  that  it  would  be  a  sale  without  con- 


192  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

sideration,  Mr.  Chandler's  comment  was :  "  That  is  just  what  I 
"  expected ;  it  is  just  what  I  want  the  North  to  know ;  that 
"  those  men  who  profess  to  be  for  the  Union  with  an  'if  are 
"  against  it  under  all  circumstances."  He  then  quoted  the  letter 
of  Thomas  Jefferson  written  at  Paris  on  Nov.  13,  1787,  to 
Colonel  Smith,  and  closing  as  follows : 

And  what  country  can  preserve  its  liberties  if  the  rulers  are  not  warned 
from  time  to  time  that  the  people  preserve  the  spirit  of  resistance  ?  Let  them 
take  up  arms  !  The  remedy  is  to  set  them  right  as  to  facts  ;  pardon  and 
pacify  them.  What  signify  a  few  lives  lost  in  a  century  or  two  ?  The  Tree 
of  Liberty  must  be  refreshed  from  time  to  time  with  the  blood  of  patriots  and 
tyrants.  It  is  its  natural  manure. 

And  with  this  authority  of  Thomas  Jefferson  on  "  a  little 
blood-letting"  as  his  text,  Mr.  Chandler  spoke  nearly  an  hour, 
denouncing  the  treason  about  him  with  unsparing  vigor  and 
branding  the  Democracy  as  responsible  for  the  impending  crime 
against  the  nation.  In  the  face  of  such  distempers  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  pronounce  war  for  the  suppression  of  rebellion  the 
only  adequate  remedy.  The  tone  and  style  of  this  speech  will 
appear  from  these  extracts: 

This  is  not  a  question  of  compromise.  It  is  a  question  whether  we  have 
or  have  not  a  government.  If  we  have  a  government  it  is  capable  of  making 
itself  respected  abroad  aad  at  home.  If  we  have  not  a  government,  let  this 
miserable  rope  of  sand  which  purports  to  be  a  government  perish,  and  I  will 
shed  no  tears  over  its  destruction.  Sir,  General  Washington  reasoned  not  so 
when  the  whisky  rebellion  broke  out  in  Pennsylvania  ;  he  called  out  the  pos.se 
comitatus  and  enforced  the  laws.  General  Jackson  reasoned  not  so  when  South 
Carolina  in  1832  raised  the  black  flag  of  rebellion  ;  he  said  :  "By  the  Eternal, 
I  will  hang  them;"  and  he  would  have  done  it. 

After  these  illustrious  examples,  we  are  told  that  six  States  have  seceded, 
and  the  Union  is  broken  up,  and  all  we  can  do  is  to  send  commissioners  to 
treat  with  traitors  with  arms  in  their  hands  ;  treat  with  men  who  have  fired 
upon  your  flag  ;  treat  with  men  who  have  seized  your  custom  -  houses,  who 
have  erected  batteries  upon  your  great  navigable  waters,  and  who  now  stand 
defying  your  authority  !  What  will  be  the  result  of  such  a  treaty  ?  You 
would  stand  disgraced  before  the  nations  of  the  earth,  your  naval  officers 
would  be  insulted  by  the  Algerines,  your  bonds  would  not  be  worth  the  paper 
on  which  they  are  written,  to-morrow.  If  you  submitted  to  this  degradation 


FACING    TREASON.  193 

your  government   would    stand  upon   a    par  with   the  governments   of    South 
America  and  the  Central  American  States. 

Sir,  I  will  never  submit  to  this  degradation.  If  the  right  is  conceded  to 
any  State  to  secede  from  the  Union,  without  the  consent  of  the  other  States, 
I  am  for  immediate  dissolution  ;  and  if  the  State  which  I  have  the  honor  in 
part  to  represent  will  not  follow  that  advice,  I,  for  one,  upon  my  own 
responsibility  and  alone,  will  resign  my  seat  in  this  body,  and  leave  this  gov 
ernment,  so  soon  as  I  can  prepare  the  small  matters  I  shall  have  to  arrange, 
for  emigration  to  some  country  where  they  have  a  government.  I  would  rather  join 
the  Comanches  ;  /  will  never  live  under  a  government  that  has  not  the  power  to 
enforce  its  laws.  .  .  .  I  see  before  me  some  of  those  men  who  have  been 
fighting  this  corrupt  organization  (the  Democratic  party)  for  the  last  twenty 
years,  who  now  turn  about  in  dismay  at  the  threatened  disruption  of  the 
government.  Why  are  they  terror  -  stricken  ?  Why  do  they  not  stand  firm 
and  denounce  you  as  infamously  connected  \vith  a  plundered  treasury  instead 
of  cowering  before  your  threats  ?  This  thing  has  gone  far  enough. 
Sir,  this  Union  is  to  stand  ;  it  will  stand  when  your  great-grandchildren  and 
mine  shall  have  grown  gray  —  aye,  when  they  shall  have  gone  to  their  last 
account,  and  their  great-grandchildren  shall  have  grown  gray.  But  the  traitors 
who  are  to  -  day  plotting  against  this  Union  are  to  die.  I  do  not  say,  literally, 
that  they  are  all  to  die  personally  and  absolutely  ;  but  they  are  soon  to  pass 
from  the  stage,  and  better  and  purer  men  are  to  take  their  places.  God  grant 
that  that  consummation,  "so  devoutly  to  be  wished,"  may  be  early  accom 
plished  !  .  .  . 

For  the  Union  -  loving  men  of  this  nation,  for  the  true  patriots  of  the 
land,  there  is  no  reasonable  concession  that  I  would  not  most  cheerfully  make; 
but  for  those  men  who  profess  to  be  Union  men  and  who  are  Union  men 
with  an  "if";  who  will  take  all  the  concessions  we  will  give  them  —  all  that 
they  demand  —  and  then  turn  about  and  say  "your  Union  is  dissolved,"  I 
have  no  respect  ;  and  for  them  I  will  do  nothing.  For  the  men  who  love 
this  Union,  who  are  prepared  to  march  to  the  support  of  the  Union,  who  will 
stand  up  in  defense  of  the  old  flag  under  which  their  fathers  fought  and 
gloriously  triumphed,  I  have  not  only  the  most  profound  respect,  but  to  their 
demands  I  can  scarce  conceive  anything  that  I  would  not  yield.  But,  sir, 
when  traitorous  States  come  here  and  say,  unless  you  yield  this  or  that  estab 
lished  principle  or  right,  we  will  dissolve  the  Union,  I  would  answer  in  brief 
words  —  no  concession,  no  compromise  ;  aye,  give  us  strife  even  to  blood 
before  yielding  to  the  demands  of  traitorous  insolence. 

This    "  blood    letter "    ( as    it    was    commonly    termed )    Mr. 

Chandler  was  often  called    upon  to    meet   in   the    course    of   his 

subsequent  public  life,  and  he  never  failed  to  justify  its  writing 

or  to  stand  by  its  language.      In  the  extra  session  of  the  Senate 

13 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

in  March,  1861,  John  C.  Breckenriclge  alluded  to  "Senatorial 
threats  of  blood  -  letting,"  and  Mr.  Chandler  retorted  by  re  -  reading 
Jefferson's  letter  and  re -asserting  the  purpose  to  meet  attempted 
treason  with  force.  In  the  last  session  of  the  Thirty  -  seventh 
Congress  (on  Feb.  13,  1863)  William  A.  Eichardson  of  Illinois 
said  in  a  debate  upon  a  war  loan  measure : 

The  Senator  from  Michigan,  at  the  outset  of  this  controversy,  declared  in 
a  letter  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Michigan,  that  this  government  was 
not  worth  a  rush  without  some  blood  -  letting.  Standing  in  array  against  all  our 
history  for  seventy  years,  standing  in  array  against  the  peace  of  the  country 
for  seventy  years,  the  constitution  itself  in  every  proceeding  from  that  time  to 
this  being  but  compromise,  he  declared  at  the  outset  against  any  compromise 
for  the  peace  of  the  country,  and  he  is  responsible  to  a  very  large  extent  for 
the  arbitrament  of  war  that  is  now  upon  us.  He  is  responsible  for  those 
consequences  that  are  now  flowing  to  us  from  the  position  assumed  then 
strongly  by  him  at  the  head  of  a  dominant  party  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Chandler  was  prompt  in  meeting  this  attack,  and  said: 

Mr.  President :  I  do  not  propose  to  -  day  to  go  over  my  record.  It  has  been 
made  before  the  country  and  the  world.  There  let  it  stand.  So  far  as  my 
loyalty  and  devotion  to  the  country  are  concerned,  I  doubt  if  any  man  ever 
seriously  attempted  to  cast  suspicion  on  them.  But,  as  I  said  before,  my  record 
is  made.  I  stand  upon  it  and  am  proud  of  it  in  all  its  entirety.  The  Sena 
tor  alluded  to  the  blood-letting  letter,  as  it  is  called  in  Michigan.  That  letter 
has  been  discussed  before  the  people  of  that  State.  Thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands,  and,  for  aught  I  know,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  copies  of  it, 
were  scattered  broadcast  throughout  that  State.  What  were  the  circumstances 
under  which  that  letter  was  written  ?  We  had  traitors  in  this  body  proclaim 
ing  from  day  to  day  that  this  government  was  then  destroyed,  and  there  was 
no  rebuke  from  the  Senator  of  Illinois  or  his  friends.  There  was  no  rebuke 
from  the  administration  then  in  power,  whom  he  aided  in  placing  there.  They 
proclaimed  that  the  government  was  entirely  destroyed  ;  and  that  it  should 
never  be  restored.  Senators  proclaimed  on  this  floor  that  you  might  give  them 
a  blank  sheet  of  paper  and  allow  them  to  fill  it  as  they  pleased,  and  still 
they  would  not  live  with  us  under  the  same  government.  .  .  .  Here  in 
this  hall  and  in  the  other  chamber,  and  on  the  streets  wherever  you  went, 
you  heard  traitors  declare  that  the  government  was  ended,  declare  that  if 
you  attempted  to  coerce  the  rebel  States  it  would  lead  to  war.  I  believed 
then,  as  I  believe  now,  that  they  intended  to  break  up  this  government  ;  that 
they  intended  a  disruption  of  the  nation.  And  I  believed  then,  as  I  believe 
now,  that  without  the  intervention  of  armed  force  to  put  down  armed  rebels 
and  traitors,  your  government  was  destroyed.  Believing  it,  I  so  wrote  to  the 


FACING    TREASON.  195 


governor  of  a  sovereign  State  —  a  confidential  note,  it  is  true,  but  that  is  of 
no  account.  I  stand  by  that  letter  precisely  as  it  was  written.  A  majority  of 
the  people  of  this  nation  believe  to-day,  as  I  believed  then,  that  there  was 
and  could  be  but  one  way  to  save  the  nation,  and  thai  was  by  putting  down 
armed  rebels  by  force.  That  is  what  I  believed  then,  what  I  believe  now. 

Another  thing  the  Senator  says  :  Nobody  is  more  responsible  for  this 
bloody  and  wicked  war  than  myself.  Mr.  President,  let  us  look  a  little  into 
the  matter  of  responsibility.  There  is  a  responsibility  somewhere,  and  a  fearful 
responsibility,  for  this  rebellion  and  this  dreadful  war,  but  that  responsibility  is 
not  upon  my  soul.  .  .  .  You  may  go  through  all  the  ranks  of  rebeldom, 
aye,  sir,  you  may  take  all  the  officers  of  your  regular  army,  who  have  deserted 
by  hundreds  and  violated  their  oath,  and  gone  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy, 
and  are  fighting  to  overturn  the  government ;  go  and  poll  the  whole  of  them, 
and  you  cannot  find  one  that  ever  co  -  operated  with  me  politically.  They  are 
all  Democrats,  every  man.  Yes,  sir,  and  go  among  the  officers  of  the  navy 
who  have  deserted  and  gone  over  to  the  enemy,  and  are  now  fighting  against 
their  flag  and  attempting  to  overturn  this  government ;  poll  them,  and  among 
all  the  hundreds  of  them  you  cannot  find  a  single  Republican  — not  one.  No, 
sir,  they  are  all  Democrats,  every  man.  You  may  go  and  poll  the  whole  four 
or  five  hundred  thousand  men  the  rebels  have  now  in  arms  against  this  gov 
ernment,  and  you  cannot  find  a  man  wrho  was  ever  a  Republican  or  who 
even  sympathized  with  the  Republicans.  They  are  all  Democrats  or  "Union 
men"  such  as  we  had  here  two  years  ago,  men  who  had  professed  to  be  for 
the  Union  when  their  hearts  were  with  the  enemies  of  the  government.  Sir, 
go  among  the  Northern  sympathizers  with  the  rebellion,  the  men  who  are 
proclaiming  to-day  that  this  government  is  overturned,  and  that  it  will  never 
be  restored,  who  are  to-day  denouncing  your  currency  and  saying  that  your 
money  is  not  worth  the  paper  upon  which  it  is  written  ;  search  through 
all  the  sympathizers  with  this  rebellion,  and  you  cannot  find  a  man  who 
ever  co  -  operated  with  me  politically  —  not  one.  They  are  Democrats,  but  yet, 
forsooth,  I  am  responsible  for  this  war.  ...  I  have  no  responsibility  for 
this  rebellion,  nor  have  the  party  with  which  I  act.  We  have  with  perfect 
unanimity,  in  every  instance,  come  up  to  the  support  of  the  government. 
When  the  government  demanded  400,000  men,  every  single  individual  on  this 
side  of  the  house  voted  to  give  them  500,000  men.  And  when  they  demanded 
$400,000,000  to  support  the  government,  every  man  on  this  side  of  the  house 
voted  to  give  them  $500,000,000  to  save  the  nation.  Sir,  we  have  been  ready 
under  all  circumstances  to  make  any  and  every  sacrifice  so  that  this  nation 
might  be  saved.  Our  armies  arc  in  large  force  and  ably  commanded  ;  they 
are  ready  to  advance  and  crush  the  hydra -headed  monster  of  rebellion.  Aye, 
sir,  but  we  have  an  enemy  insidious  and  dangerous.  The  seat  of  the  rebellion  is 
to-day  not  in  Richmond,  it  is  among  the  copper  -  headed  traitors  of  the  North, 
and  if  this  government  is  overturned,  if  we  should  fail  in  saving  the  govern 
ment,  it  will  be,  not  from  the  force  of  rebels  in  our  front,  but  because  of  the 
accursed  traitors  m  our  rear. 


196  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

In  the  course  of  a  debate  in  the  Senate  on  Feb.  16,  1866, 
upon  reconstruction  topics,  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  of  Indiana  said : 

When  the  good  and  the  patriotic,  North  and  South,  representing  the 
yearning  hearts  of  the  people  at  home,  came  here  in  the  winter  and  spring  of 
1861,  in  a  peace  congress,  if  possible  to  avoid  this  dreadful  war,  then  the 
Senator  from  Michigan  announced  to  his  Governor  and  the  country  that  this 
Union  was  scarcely  worth  preserving  without  some  blood  -  letting.  His  cry 
before  the  war  was  for  blood.  Allow  me  to  say  that  when  the  Senator's  name 
is  forgotten  because  of  anything  he  says  or  does  in  this  body,  in  future  times 
it  will  be  borne  down  upon  the  pages  of  history  as  the  author  of  the  terrible 
sentiment  that  the  Union  of  the  people  that  our  fathers  had  cemented  by  the 
blood  of  the  Revolution  and  by  the  love  of  the  people  ;  that  that  Union,  rest 
ing  upon  compromise  and  concession,  resting  upon  the  doctrine  of  equality  to 
all  sections  of  the  country  ;  that  that  Union  which  brought  us  so  much  great 
ness  and  power  in  the  three  -  quarters  of  a  century  of  our  life  ;  that  that 
Union  which  had  brought  us  so  much  prosperity  and  greatness  until  we  were 
the  mightiest  and  proudest  nation  on  God's  footstool  ;  that  that  grand  Union 
was  not  worth  preserving  unless  we  had  some  blood-letting.  Mr.  President, 
it  is  not  the  sentiment  of  the  Senator's  own  heart  ;  it  is  the  expression  of  a 
hitter  political  hostility  ;  but  it  will  carry  him  down  to  immortality  ;  he  is  sure 
of  living  in  history  ;  he  has  gained  that  much  by  it. 

To  this  Mr.  Chandler's  response  was  instant.     He  said : 

The  Senator  from  Indiana  has  arraigned  me  upon  an  old  indictment  for 
having  written  a  certain  letter  in  1861.  It  is  not  the  first  time  I  have  been 
arraigned  on  that  indictment  of  "blood-letting."  I  was  arraigned  for  it  upon 
this  floor  by  the  traitor  John  C.  Breckenridge,  and  I  answered  the  traitor 
John  C.  Breckenridge,  and  after  I  gave  him  his  answer  he  went  out  to  the 
rebel  ranks  and  fought  against  our  flag.  I  was  arraigned  by  another  Senator 
from  Kentucky,  and  by  other  traitors  upon  this  floor  ;  I  expect  to  be  arraigned 
again.  I  wrote  the  letter,  and  I  stand  by  the  letter  and  what  is  in  it.  What 
was  the  position  of  the  country  when  the  letter  was  written  ?  The  Democratic 
party  as  an  organization  had  arrayed  itself  against  this  government  —  a  Demo 
cratic  traitor  in  the  Presidential  chair,  and  Democratic  traitors  in  every 
department  of  this  government,  Democratic  traitors  preaching  treason  upon  this 
floor  and  preaching  treason  in  the  hall  of  the  other  House,  Democratic  traitors 
in  your  army  and  in  your  navy,  Democratic  traitors  controlling  every  branch 
of  this  government.  Your  flag  was  fired  upon  and  there  was  no  response. 
The  Democratic  party  had  ordained  that  this  government  should  be  over 
thrown,  and  I,  a  Senator  from  the  State  of  Michigan,  wrote  to  the  Governor 
of  that  State  "unless  you  are  prepared  to  shed  blood  for  the  preservation  of 
this  great  government  the  government  is  overthrown."  That  is  all  there  was 
in  that  letter.  That  I  said,  and  that  I  say  again.  And  I  tell  that  Senator,  if 


FACING    TREASON.  19V 

he  is  prepared  to  go  down  in  history  with  the  Democratic  traitors  who  then 
co-operated  with  him,  I  am  prepared  to  go  down  on  that  "blood-letting" 
letter,  and  1  stand  by  the  record  as  made. 

Because  I  wrote  to  the  Governor  of  my  State  that  unless  he  was  prepared 
to  shed  blood  for  the  preservation  of  this  government  it  was  overthrown,  now 
I  am  to  be  arraigned  as  going  down  to  be  remembered  in  history  !  Yes,  sir, 
I  shall  be  remembered,  and  I  am  proud  of  the  record.  May  it  stand,  and 
stand  as  long  as  this  government  stands  !  When  that  Senator  and  the  men 
who  co  -  operated  with  him  shall  have  gone  down  to  eternal  infamy  my  record 
will  be  brilliant. 

In  the  closing  session  of  Mr.  Chandler's  Congressional  service 
Senator  Benjamin  H.  Hill  of  Georgia,  in  the  course  of  a  reply 
(on  May  10,  1879)  to  a  declaration  of  his  on  the  previous  day 
that  "  there  were  twelve  Senators  on  the  other  side  whose  seats 
were  obtained  and  are  held  by  fraud  and  violence,"  again  read 
and  commented  upon  "the  blood  letter."  Mr.  Chandler  promptly 
answered  as  follows : 

Mr.  President,  this  is  the  fourth  time  since  1861  that  allusion  has  been 
made  to  a  letter  written  by  me  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Michigan  ; 
first  it  appeared  in  a  newspaper  published  in  Detroit ;  a  copy  was  sent  to  me 
and  a  copy  was  likewise  sent  to  the  late  Senator  Powell.  The  letter  was  a 
private  note  written  to  the  Governor  and  no  copy  retained.  Senator  Powell 
approached  me  with  his  copy  of  the  letter  and  asked  if  it  was  correct.  I  told 
him  I  did  not  know  ;  I  had  written  to  the  Governor  of  Michigan  a  private 
note  and  had  kept  no  copy  and  could  not  say  whether  this  was  correct  or 
not  He  told  me  that  if  it  was  a  correct  copy  he  would  wish  to  make  use  of 
it,  and  if  it  was  not  he  did  not  propose  to  make  use  of  it.  I  said,  "Sir,  I 
will  adopt  it,  and  you  may  make  any  use  of  it  you  please."  So  to-day  that 
is  my  letter.  If  not  originally  written  by  me,  it  is  mine  by  adoption. 

And,  Mr.  President,  what  were  the  circumstances  under  which  that  letter 
was  written  ?  I  had  been  in  this  body  then  nearly  four  years  listening  to 
treason  day  by  day  and  hour  by  hour.  The  threat,  the  universal  threat  daily, 
hourly,  was,  "Do  this  or  we  will  dissolve  the  Union  ;  if  you  do  not  do  that 
we  will  dissolve  the  Union."  Treason  was  in  the  White  House,  treason  in 
the  Cabinet,  treason  in  the  Senate,  and  treason  in  the  House  of  llepresenta- 
tives  ;  bold,  outspoken,  rampant  treason  was  daily  and  hourly  uttered.  The 
threat  was  made  upon  this  floor  in  my  presence  by  a  Senator,  "  You  may 
"  give  us  a  blank  sheet  of  paper  and  let  us  fill  it  up  as  we  please,  and  then 
"we  will  not  live  with  you."  And  another  Senator  stood  here  beside  that 
Senator  from  Texas  and  said,  "I  stand  by  the  Senator  from  Texas."  Treason 
was  applauded  in  the  galleries  of  this  body,  and  treason  was  talked  on  the 


198  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

streets,  in  the  street  cars,  in  private  circles ;  everywhere  it  was  treason  — 
treason  in  your  departments,  traitors  in  the  White  House,  traitors  around 
these  galleries,  traitors  everywhere  ! 

The  flag  of  rebellion  had  been  raised  ;  the  Union  was  already  dissolved, 
we  were  told  ;  the  rebel  government  was  already  established  with  its  capital 
in  Alabama;  "and  now  we  will  negotiate  with  you,"  was  said  to  us.  Upon 
what  basis  would  you  negotiate  ?  Upon  what  basis  did  you  call  your  peace 
convention  ?  With  rampant  rebellion  staring  us  in  the  face  !  Sir,  it  was  no 
time  to  negotiate.  The  time  for  negotiation  was  past. 

Sir,  this  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  that  letter  was  written  ;  and 
after  Mr.  Powell  had  made  his  assault  upon  me  in  this  body  for  it  I  responded, 
relating  what  I  have  related  here  now  with  regard  to  it,  and  I  said,  "I  stand 
by  that  letter,"  and  I  stand  by  it  now.  What  was  there  in  it  then,  and  what 
is  there  in  it  now  ?  The  State  of  Michigan  was  known  to  be  in  favor  of  the 
constitution  and  the  Union  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws,  even  to  the  let 
ting  of  blood  if  need  be,  and  that  was  all  there  was  and  all  there  is  in  that 
letter.  Make  the  most  of  it  ! 

The  Senator  from  Georgia  says  that  I  did  not  shed  any  blood.  How 
much  blood  did  he  shed?*  [Laughter.]  Will  somebody  inform  us  the  exact 
quantity  of  blood  that  the  Senator  from  Georgia  shed  ? 

Mr.  HILL,  of  Georgia  :  The  difference  between  us  is  that  I  was  not  in 
favor  of  shedding  anybody's  blood. 

Mr.  CHANDLER  :  Nor  I,  except  to  punish  treason  and  traitors.  Sir,  the 
Senator  is  not  the  man  to  stand  up  on  this  floor  and  talk  about  other  men 
saving  their  own  blood.  He  took  good  care  to  put  his  blood  in  Fort  Lafayette 
where  he  was  out  of  the  way  of  rebel  bullets  as  well  as  Union  bullets.  He  is 
the  last  man  to  stand  up  here  and  talk  to  me  about  letting  the  blood  of  others 
be  shed. 

Mr.  President,  I  was  then,  as  I  am  now,  in  favor  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States.  Then,  as  now,  I  abhorred  the  idea  of  State  sovereignty  over 
National  sovereignty.  Then,  as  now,  I  was  prepared  even  to  shed  blood  to 
save  this  glorious  government.  Then,  as  now,  I  stood  up  for  the  constitution 
and  the  Union.  Then,  as  now,  I  was  in  favor  of  the  perpetuity  of  this 
glorious  government.  But  the  Senator  from  Georgia,  was,  as  he  testified 
before  a  committee,  "a  Union  secessionist."  I  have  the  testimony  here  before 
me.  Will  somebody  explain  what  that  means — "a  Union  secessionist?"  Mr. 
President,  I  should  like  to  sec  the  dictionary  wherein  a  definition  can  be  found 
of  "a  Union  secessionist!"  I  do  not  understand  the  term.  He  says  they 
have  the  right  to  have  a  solid  South,  but  a  solid  North  will  destroy  the 
government.  Why,  Mr.  President,  the  South  is  no  more  solid  to  -  day  than  it 
was  in  1857.  ...  It  has  been  solid  ever  since,  and  it  was  no  quarrel  with 


*An  allusion  to  the  common  report  that,  during  a  secret  session  of  the  Confederate 
Senate,  William  L.  Yancey  received  injuries  in  a  personal  encounter  with  15.  H.  Hill  from 
which  he  finally  died. 


FACING    TREASON.  199 

the  North  that  made  it  solid.  It  was  solid  because  it  was  determined  either 
to  "rule  or  ruin"  this  nation.  It  tried  the  "ruin"  scheme  with  arms;  and 
now,  having  failed  to  ruin  this  government  with  arms,  it  comes  back  to  ruin 
it  by  withholding  supplies  to  carry  on  the  government.  Sir,  the  men  have 
changed  since  1857.  There  is  now  but  one  member  on  this  floor  who  stood 
here  with  me  on  the  4th  of  March,  1857.  The  men  have  changed,  the  meas 
ures  not  at  all.  You  then  fought  for  the  overthrow  of  this  government,  and 
now  you  vote  and  talk  for  the  same  purpose.  You  are  to  -  day,  as  you  were 
then,  determined  either  to  rule  or  ruin  this  government,  and  you  cannot  do 
either. 

This  letter  was  also  for  years  constantly  quoted  and  denounced 
by  the  Democratic  press  of  Michigan  with  the  hope  of  by  this 
means  breaking  the  Senator's  hold  upon  the  confidence  of  the 
people  of  his  State.  He  uniformly  met  these  attacks,  not  only 
without  the  shadow  of  apology,  but  with  the  most  emphatic 
defiance.  On  the  stump  he  repeatedly  declared  that  "  that  letter 
was  a  good  one,"  that  he  would  not  qualify  a  sentence  nor 
retract  a  word  of  it,  that  he  "stood  by  it"  without  reservation, 
and  that  he  believed  when  he  wrote  it  and  knew  afterward  that 
it  pointed  out  the  only  path  in  which  the  nation  could  then 
walk  with  honor  and  with  safety.  Time  has  shown  that  Mr. 
Chandler  was  right  and  that  the  men  who  deprecated  his  bold 
ness  were  wrong,  and  that  the  real  statesmanship  of  the  winter 
of  1860-61  was  that  which  proposed  not  to  parley  with,  but  to 
draw  the  sword  upon,  "  foul  treason."  The  paper  which  at  that 
time  first  printed  "  the  blood  letter "  and  made  it  the  text  for 
unsparing  and  constant  denunciation  of  its  author  was  edited  by  a 
man  who  grew  to  be  one  of  the  foremost  of  American  journalists, 
and  —  always  hostile  to  Republicanism  —  published  in  1879  the 
chief  Northwestern  organ  oi  Independent  opinion,  which  said,  in 
announcing  Mr.  Chandler's  sudden  death  in  its  city :  "  To 
"  superior  intellectual  endowments  he  united  a  force  of  will  and 
"  resolution  of  purpose  that  hesitated  at  no  obstacle.  Few  men 
"  ever  displayed  in  a  more  lemarkablo  degree  the  courage  of 
"  opinions  No  dread  of  unpopularity,  no  fear  of  consequences, 


200  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

"  ever  troubled  him.  His  famous  '  blood  -  letting  letter,'  written 
"  near  the  opening  of  the  Southern  rebellion,  was  a  faithful 
"  manifestation  of  the  man.  When  frightened  party  chiefs  of 
"  the  North  were  running  up  and  down  with  peace  propositions 
"to  placate  Southern  fire -eaters  and  patch  up  a  new  truce 
"  between  free  civilization  and  slave  barbarism,  Zach.  Chandler 
"  stood  up  in  his  place  in  the  Senate  and  in  terms  of  intense, 
"  bitter  scorn,  denounced  all  such  efforts  as  the  pitiful  manifesto 
"  cions  of  political  cowardice  and  folly.  He  had  no  word  of 
"  regret  to  utter  upon  the  departure  of  the  Southern  Senators ; 
"  but  told  them  that  the  North  would  whip  them  back,  and  that 
"  in  their  humiliation  the  bond  of  nationality  would  be  ptrength- 
"  ened.  He  had  no  dread  of  the  threatened  blood  -  letting,  but 
"  believed  it  to  be  the  only  way  of  curing  the  Southern  ulcer, 
"  and  that  the  nation  would  afterward  be  the  healthier  for  it." 

And 

"Thus  the  whirligig  of  Time  brings  in  his  revenges." 


CHAPTEK    XII. 

THE    COMMENCEMENT   OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR. 

rBRAHAM  LINCOLN  reached  Washington  on  the  23d 
of  February,  1861,  having  come  from  Harrisburg  incog 
nito,  and  in  advance  of  the  announced  time,  because  of 
threats  of  assassination.  Mr.  Chandler  was  one  of  the 
first  persons  informed  of  his  arrival,  called  upon  him  at  once, 
and  was  in  frequent  consultation,  with  him  thereafter  with  refer 
ence  to  the  formation  of  his  Cabinet  and  the  policy  to  be 
pursued  toward  the  South.  Mr.  Chandler  earnestly  opposed 
placing  any  but  the  most  uncompromising  Union  men  at  the 
head  of  the  departments,  urged  bold  and  decisive  measures 
toward  armed  traitors  for  the  sake  of  the  moral  effect  of  such  a 
course,  and  advised  the  most  emphatic  declarations  in  the  inaugu 
ral  of  the  President's  intention  to  enforce  the  laws  at  all  hazards. 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  seriously  thought  of  inviting  two  gentlemen 
from  the  Southern  States  to  seats  in  his  Cabinet,  the  names 
chiefly  considered  by  him  being  those  of  Alexander  H.  Stephens 
of  Georgia,  and  James  Guthrie  of  Kentucky.  Mr.  Chandler 
strongly  opposed  any  such  concession  to  the  rampant  disunionism 
of  the  slave  States,  and  the  hostility  of  the  wing  of  the  party 
with  which  he  acted  finally  led  Mr.  Lincoln  to  abandon  his 
original  plan  and  select  Edward  Bates  of  Missouri  and  Mont 
gomery  Blair  as  the  Southern  members  of  the  Cabinet.  Mr. 
Chandler  also  advised  that  Breckenridge,  "Wigfall,  and  other 
avowedly  disloyal  Congressmen  should  be  arrested  at  once,  and 
urged  that  the  "  Secession  Commissioners,"  when  they  came  to 
"Washington,  should  be  dealt  with  summarily  as  traitors  and  not  be 

O  '  i/ 

permitted  to  even  informally  negotiate  with  the  Administration. 


202  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

He  always  believed  that  this  summary  treatment  of  rebellion  at 
the  outset  would  have  greatly  curtailed  its  dimensions,  but  the 
President  was  guided  by  Mr.  Seward  and  others,  whose  counsels 
were  different  and  who  hoped  to  prevent  the  impending  war  by 
mildness.  Accordingly  the  inaugural  was  almost  apologetic  in 
tone  toward  the  South ;  throughout  March,  men  like  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  inquired  whether  the  Administration  meant  peace  or 
war;  flagrant  treason  was  still  defiantly  uttered  on  the  floor  of 
Congress,  and  John  Forsyth  and  M.  J.  Crawford,  einbassadors 
from  the  "  Confederacy,"  spent  wreeks  in  Washington  holding 
relations  with  the  new  Secretary  of  State  which,  if  not  "  official," 
looked  like  a  concession  in  fact  of  the  practical  independence  of 
the  seceded  States.  The  first  official  favor  Mr.  Chandler  asked 
from  President  Lincoln  was  the  appointment  of  his  life -long 
friend,  James  M.  Edmunds,  as  Commissioner  of  the  General 
Land  Office,  and  Mr.  Edmunds  was  promptly  nominated  to  that 
position  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate. 

At  noon  on  March  4,  1861,  Vice  -  President  Ilamlin  took  the 
chair  of  the  Senate  and  directed  the  secretary  to  read  this  procla 
mation  convening  an  extra  session  of  that  body: 

BY    THE    PRESIDENT    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES  :        » 

A  PROCLAMATION. 

WHEREAS,  Objects  of  interest  to  the  United  States  require  that  the  Senate 
should  be  convened  at  twelve  o'clock  on  the  4th  of  March  next,  to  receive 
and  act  upon  such  communications  as  may  be  made  to  it  on  the  part  of  the 
Executive:  Now,  therefore,  I,  James  Buchanan,  President  of  the  United  States, 
have  considered  it  to  be  my  duty  to  issue  this,  my  proclamation,  declaring 
that  an  extraordinary  occasion  requires  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  to 
convene  for  the  transaction  of  business,  at  the  capitol  in  the  city  of  Wash 
ington,  on  the  4th  day  of  March  next,  at  twelve  o'clock  at  noon  on  that  day, 
of  which  all  who  shall  at  that  time  be  entitled  to  act  as  members  of  that 
body  are  hereby  required  to  take  notice. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  the  United  States  at  Washington, 
the  llth  day  of  February,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
[L.  s.]  eight  hundred  and  sixty -one,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  of  America  the  eighty -fifth.  JAMES  BUCHANAN". 

By  the  President  :      J.  S.  BLACK,  Secretary  of  State. 


REBELLION !  203 

Sixteen  new  Senators  then  took  the  oath  of  office,  and  at 
fifteen  minutes  past  one  o'clock  James  Buchanan  and  Abraham 
Lincoln  entered  the  Senate  chamber,  arm  in  arm,  accompanied 
by  Senators  Foote,  Baker  and  Pearce,  members  of  the  Com 
mittee  of  Arrangements,  and  were  conducted  to  seats  in  front 
of  the  secretary's  desk.  In  a  few  moments  afterward,  those 
assembled  in  the  Senate  chamber  proceeded  to  the  platform  on 
the  central  portico  of  the  eastern  front  of  the  capitol,  to  listen 
to  the  inaugural  address  of  the  President  elect.  Then  the  oath 
of  office  was  administered  to  him  by  the  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  the  administration  of  the  government  by 
the  Republican  party  had  commenced.  The  business  of  this 
extra  session  of  the  Senate  was  chiefly  limited  to  the  confirma 
tion  of  executive  appointments,  although  there  were  some  exciting 
discussions  upon  the  political  situation.  Mr.  Chandler,  on  taking 
possession  (as  the  new  chairman)  of  the  room  of  the  Committee 
on  Commerce,  had  his  righteous  wrath  at  the  men  who  had 
availed  themselves  of  their  official  positions  to  plot  treason  against 
the  government  still  further  stimulated  by  finding  in  one  of  the 
drawers  of  the  large  committee  table  the  original  draft  of  the 
secession  ordinance  of  Alabama,  which  had  been  prepared  in  the 
national  capitol  by  Senator  Clement  C.  Clay,  his  predecessor  in 
the  chairmanship  of  the  committee.*  This  illustration  of  South 
ern  perfidy  Mr.  Chandler  carefully  kept,  and  at  his  death  it  was 
among  his  private  papers.  The  executive  session  of  the  Senate 
closed  on  March  28,  1861,  and  Mr.  Chandler  at  once  returned  to 
Detroit. 

At  5.20  A.  M.  on  April  12,  1861,  a  mortar  in  the  rebel  bat 
tery  on  Sullivan's  Island  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston  fired  a 

*Mr.  Clay  ( C.  C.  Clay,  Jr.,  of  Alabama),  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Commerce, 
drew  up  in  the  room  of  that  committee  the  original  ordinance  of  secession  for  the  State  of 
Alabama,  while  he,  a  rebel  traitor,  was  drawing  the  pay  of  this  government.  It  was  drawn 
upon  government  paper,  written  with  government  ink,  and  copied  by  a  clerk  drawing  $6 
a  day  from  this  government.  I  found  it  in  that  room  and  1  have  it  now.—Zachariah 
Chandler  in  the  Senate,  April  12,  186k. 


204:  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

shell    into    Fort    Sumter.       This    was   the   announcement    to    the 
world  of  the  decision  of  the  rebels  to  delay  no  longer,  but  to  at 

once 

"ope 
"  The  purple  testament  of  bleeding  war." 

On  the  13th  Major  Anderson  abandoned  the  unequal  contest, 
and  surrendered  the  blazing  ruins  of  his  fortress  to  Beauregard  ; 
on  the  1-tth  his  garrison  marched  out  with  the  honors  of  war; 
and  on  the  15th  Abraham  Lincoln  called  for  75,000  volunteers,  a 
force  which  it  was  believed  would  trample  out  rebellion  in 
ninety  days.  The  North  answered  Charleston's  cannon  and  the 
President's  appeal  with  a  magnificent  assertion  of  its  latent 
patriotism,  and  the  war  spirit  named  up  in  every  State.  On  April 
17  the  business  men  of  Detroit  held  a  public  meeting  at  the 
invitation  of  its  Board  of  Trade,  at  which  the  firm  purpose  to 
support  the  government  in  its  contest  with  treason  was  emphat 
ically  declared,  and  all  needed  assistance  in  troops  and  money 
was  pledged.  Senator  Chandler  escorted  General  Cass  to  this 
gathering,  and  their  entrance,  arm  in  arm,  typifying  as  it  did  the 
solidification  of  the  Union  sentiment  of  the  North,  was  followed 
by  long -continued  cheering.  Both  gentlemen  spoke  in  tones  of 
earnest  loyalty  and  amid  constant  applause.  That  night  the 
following  letter  was  mailed  to  Washington : 

DETROIT,  April  17,  1861. 
Hon.  Simon  Canifron. 

DEAR  SIR:  One  of  the  most  distinguished  Democrats  in  this  country* 
says  :  "Don't  defend  Washington.  Don't  put  batteries  on  Georgetown  Heights, 
but  shove  your  troops  directly  into  Virginia,  and  quarter  them  there." 

Stand  by  the  Union  men  in  Virginia  and  you  will  find  plenty  of  them. 

By  this  bold  policy  you  will  save  Virginia  to  the  Union  as  well  as  the 
Other  border  States. 

There  is  but  one  sentiment  here.  We  will  give  you  all  the  troops  you 
can  use.  We  will  send  you  two  regiments  in  thirty  days,  and  50,000  in  thirty 
days  more  if  you  want  them.  General  Cass  subscribed  $8,000  to  equip  the 
regiments. 

*This  undoubtedly  refers  to  Lewis  Cass. 


REBELLION !  205 

There  are  no  sympathizers  here  with  treason,  and  if  there  were  we  would 
dispense  with  their  company  forthwith.  Your  friend,  Z.  CHANDLER. 

Michigan  justified  her  Senator's  pledges  by  promptly  raising 
and  equipping  many  more  troops  than  the  State  was  required  to 
furnish  under  the  call  for*  75,000  volunteers,  and  this  correspond 
ence  soon  followed: 

DETROIT,  April  21,  1861. 
Hon.  Simon  Cameron. 

MY  DEAR  CAMERON  :  .  .  .  I  will  esteem  it  a  very  great  favor  if  you 
will  officially  call  for  at  least  one  more  regiment  to  go  to  the  front  immedi 
ately  from  this  State.  You  did  not  call  for  but  one,  but  we  have  got  two 
all  ready,  and  have  raised  $100,000  by  private  subscription  to  equip  them. 
Truly  yours,  Z.  CHANDLER. 

[REPLY.] 

WASHINGTON,  April  29,  1861. 
Hon.  Z.   Chandler. 

DEAR  SIR  :  ...  It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  gratify  your 
wishes,  but  this  can  only  be  done  in  one  way.  The  President  has  determined 
to  accept  no  more  for  three  months'  service,  but  to  add  to  the  regular  army 
twenty -five  more  regiments  whose  members  shall  agree  to  serve  two  years 
unless  sooner  discharged.  This  will  enable  the  Department  to  accept  another 
regiment  from  your  State.  Truly  yours, 

SIMON  CAMERON,  Secretary  of  War. 

To  this  suggestion  the  response  was  prompt,  and  the  enlist 
ment  of  men  and  formation  of  companies  for  three  years'  service 
went  briskly  on,  Michigan  sending  only  one  three -months'  regi 
ment  to  the  field.  Mr.  Chandler  was  active  in  stimulating  and 
organizing  the  war  movements  at  home,  both  by  untiring  per 
sonal  labor  and  by  liberal  subscriptions  of  money,  until  the  first 
regiments  were  ready  for  marching  orders.  He  was  one  of 
the  speakers  at  an  imposing  Union  meeting  held  in  Detroit  on 
April  25,  with  Lewis  Cass  in  the  chair,  and  he  there  said :  "  A 
"  greater  contest  than  the  Revolutionary  war  is  now  about  to 
"  take  place.  It  is  to  be  tested  whether  a  republican  government 
"  can  stand  or  not.  The  eyes  of  all  Europe  are  upon  us,  and  we 
u  will  convince  them  that  ours  is  the  strongest  government  on 


206  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

"  earth."  He  also  made  an  earnest,  and  in  the  end  successful, 
effort  to  procure  from  the  War  Department  such.  Borders  as  should 
obtain  for  the  Michigan  men  an  opportunity  for  prompt  service 
against  the  enemy.  It  was  originally  intended  to  send  the  regi 
ments  from  his  State  to  Cairo,  but  his  influence  accomplished  a 
change  in  this  plan  and  they  were  directed  to  report  to  Wash 
ington  for  immediate  duty.  In  May  Mr.  Chandler  went  to  the 
capital  to  aid  in  preparing  for  their  reception  and  to  urge  upon 
the  authorities,  who  were  then  declining  the  profuse  offers  of 
troops,  the  importance  of  accepting  all  the  regiments  tendered 
by  his  own  and  other  States  and  of  promptly  attacking  the  con 
stantly  growing  rebellion  by  invading  its  territory  and  interfering 
with  the  organization  of  its  armies.  On  the  17th  of  May,  1861, 
the  First  Regiment  of  Michigan  Volunteers  arrived  in  Washing 
ton,  Col.  O.  B.  Willcox  commanding.  They  were  met  at  the 
depot  by  Senator  Chandler  and  escorted  to  quarters  he  had  aided 
in  securing  for  them  in  a  business  block  on  Pennsylvania  avenue. 
Mr.  Chandler  was  active  in  providing  for  their  comfort,  purchased 
supplies  for  them  out  of  his  own  private  purse,  was  present  at 
their  parade  when  they  were  formally  mustered  into  the  service 
of  the  United  States  by  Adjutant  -  General  Thomas,  and  asked 
the  Secretary  of  War  to  send  them  at  once  to  the  front  for 
active  duty.  His  request  was  complied  with  and  this  regiment 
was  prominent  in  the  first  important  military  movement  of  the 
war. 

After  he  had  seen  the  Michigan  troops  well  cared  for,  Mr. 
Chandler,  on  the  19th  of  May,  in  company  with  Senators  Wade 
and  Morrill  and  John  G.  Nicolay,  the  private  secretary  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  sailed  for  Fortress  Monroe  to  visit  General  Butler, 
and  see  the  condition  of  his  newly  -  organized  army.  On  the 
following  day  the  party  started  to  return  on  the  steamer  Free- 
born,  and  as  they  were  passing  through  Hampton  Roads  heard 
heavy  cannonading,  which  proved  to  be  an  artillery  duel  between 


REBELLION  1  207 

the  steamer  Monticello  and  a  battery  erected  by  the  rebels  at 
Sewell's  Point,  where  the  Elizabeth  river  empties  into  Hampton 
Roads.  The  Treeborn  went  at  once  to  the  assistance  of  the 
Monticello,  and  being  of  light  draft  approached  within  300 
yards  of  the  battery  and  opened  fire  with  her  guns.  The  colum- 
biads  of  the  Virginians  were  soon  disabled,  and  the  rebels  were 
scattered  in  every  direction,  Mr.  Chandler  pronouncing  the  spec 
tacle  uthe  best  ball -playing  he  had  ever  seen."  On  her  voyage 
up  the  Potomac  the  Freeborn  seized  two  suspicious  boats,  and 
found  them  loaded  with  a  company  of  fifty  rebel  soldiers  on 
their  way  to  join  "the  Confederate  army.'1  Both  vessels  were 
brought  to  the  Navy  Yard  at  Washington  and  they  weve  the 
first  prizes  taken  during  the  war,  and  the  men  on  board  were 
the  first  rebel  prisoners  captured. 

On  the  night  of  the  23d  of  May,  the  Union  forces  at  Wash 
ington  crossed  the  Potomac  and  proceeded  to  seize  and  fortify 
advantageous  positions  on  Virginia  soil.  The  First  Michigan 
accompanied  the  famous  Zouave  regiment  by  ferry-boats  to 
Alexandria,  taking  possession  of  that  city  in  the  night.  Mr. 
Chandler  went  with  the  Michigan  men,  and  was  the  only  civilian 
who  was  allowed  to  accompany  this  wing  of  the  expedition.  He 
was  with  a  detachment  of  soldiers  who  surprised  and  captured  a 
party  of  forty  rebel  dragoons,  including  four  officers,  and  he  was 
in  Alexandria  when  Colonel  Ellsworth  fell  and  private  Brownell 
instantly  avenged  his  death.  Of  this  event,  since  obscured  by 
four  years  of  carnage,  but  which  then  first  brought  to  excited 
millions  some  sense  of  the  dreadful  realities  of  war,  he  was  the 
first  to  bear  the  news  to  the  authorities  at  Washington. 

Mr.  Chandler  remained  at  the  capital  some  weeks,  working 
industriously  in  helping  on  the  preparations  for  war,  and  urging 
the  most  vigorous  and  sweeping  measures  upon  the  Adminis 
tration.  He  believed  and  said  repeatedly  that  the  call  for 
75,000  men  for  three  months  was  a  mistake.  He  was  no  opti- 


208  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

mist,  and  never  thought  that  a  rebellion,  so  carefully  organized 
and  left  so  long  undisturbed,  could  be  subdued  without  a 
desperate  and  bloody  struggle.  He  thought  that  500,000  rather 
than  75,000  volunteers  should  have  been  called  for  to  serve 
through  the  war,  and  judged  that  the  effect  of  such  a  procla 
mation  upon  the  country,  and  particularly  upon  the  South, 
would  have  been  salutary,  as  showing  the  determination  of 
the  government  to  crush  the  rebellion  at  once  and  forever. 
While  the  raw  levies  of  volunteers  were  massing  in  Washington 
in  May  and  June,  there  was  a  lamentable  lack  of  discipline  and 
organization.  The  commissary  department  of  the  army  was 
feeble  and  inefficient,  and  there  was  a  want  of  proper  and  suffi 
cient  food  for  the  soldiers.  Mr.  Chandler's  executive  capacity 
was  very  useful  then  to  the  Secretary  of  War  in  assisting  in 
the  organization  of  a  commissariat  and  in  procuring  supplies  and 
equipments,  and  he  spent  no  small  sum  in  obtaining  food  for 
the  soldiers  when  the  regular  rations  were  not  forthcoming. 
Although  entirely  without  military  training,  Mr  Chandler's  busi 
ness  experience,  his  quick  perception,  and  his  clear  judgment 
made  his  services  at  this  period  of  confusion  and  mismanagement 
of  great  value  to  the  country.  In  June  he  returned  to  Michigan 
for  a  few  days,  and  on  the  21st  of  that  month  spoke  (with  the 
Hon.  Charles  M.  Croswell)  at  Adrian,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
presentation  by  the  ladies  of  that  city  of  a  stand  of  colors  to  a 
volunteer  regiment  in  camp  there. 

On  the  ttth  of  July,  1861,  the  Thirty  -  seventh  Congress  met 
in  extra  session,  and  adjourned  on  the  6th  of  August,  after 
having  enacted  laws  to  increase  the  army  and  navy,  and  to 
provide  the  means  and  authority  necessary  for  the  vigorous  prose 
cution  of  the  war.  The  scope  of  the  work  undertaken  by  this 
Congress  was  far  greater  than  that  of  any  preceding  session. 
Many  of  the  members  had  but  little  experience  in  legislative 
matters,  but  their  patriotism  was  sincere  and  ardent,  and  their 


REBELLION !  209 

acts  embodied  the  national  purpose  to  maintain  the  integrity  of 
the  republic  at  any  cost.  On  the  second  day  of  the  session  Mr. 
Chandler  said  in  the  Senate: 

I  desire  to  give  notice  that  I  shall  to  -  morrow  or  on  some  subsequent  day 
introduce  a  bill  to  confiscate  the  property  of  all  Governors  of  States,  members 
of  the  Legislature,  Judges  of  Courts,  and  all  military  officers  above  the  rank 
of  lieutenant  who  shall  take  up  arms  against  the  United  States,  or  aid  or  abet 
treason  against  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  that  said  individual 
shall  be  forever  disqualified  from  holding  any  office  of  honor,  emolument  or 
trust  under  this  government. 

This  bill  was  introduced  on  July  15,  and  was  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  the  Judiciary ;  it  reported  back  a  measure  of 
much  narrower  scope,  which  was  passed,  and  is  known  as  the 
confiscation  act  of  1861.  The  origin  of  Mr.  Chandler's  bill  was 
the  fact  that  John  Y.  Mason  of  Virginia,  who  had  been  expelled 
from  the  Senate  for  treason,  owned  a  large  amount  of  property 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  so  indignant  were  the  people  of  the  county 
in  which  it  was  located  at  his  treachery,  that  a  guard  was  kept 
over  it  constantly  to  prevent  its  destruction  by  a  mob.  Mr. 
Chandler  believed  it  was  important  that  the  government  should 
be  enabled  to  legally  seize  for  its  own  use  such  property  as  this ; 
there  were  also  many  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  who  were 
undecided  whether  to  go  with  the  rebellion  or  remain  at  their 
posts.  He  wished  to  add  to  the  penalties  of  treason  to  affect 
them,  as  well  as  those  wealthy  citizens  of  Washington  and 
Maryland  who  had  formerly  been  in  office  and  who  sympathized 
with  the  rebellion  and  gave  the  South  as  much  encouragement 
as  they  dared.  His  proposition  proved  then  too  vigorous  to 
obtain  the  endorsement  of  his  colleagues,  but  within  a  year  its 
principle  received  Congressional  sanction.  During  this  session 
(on  July  IS)  Mr.  Chandler  said  in  the  Senate  with  characteristic 
force : 

The  Senator  from  Indiana  says  there  are  three  parties  in  the  country.     I 
deny  it,  sir.      There  are  but  two  parties,  patriots  and  traitors  —  none  others  in 
14 


210  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

this  body  nor  in  the  country.  I  care  not  what  proposition  may  be  brought 
up  to  save  the  Union,  to  preserve  its  integrity,  patriots  will  vote  for  it  ;  and 
I  care  not  wnat  proposition  you  may  bring  up  to  dissolve  the  Union,  to  break 
up  this  government,  traitors  will  vote  for  that.  And  those  are  the  only  two 
parties  there  are  in  the  Senate  or  the  country. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  add  that  Mr.  Chandler  voted  at  this 
session  for  every  measure  to  organize  armies  and  to  raise  means 
for  their  maintenance,  and  that  he  favored  at  all  times  vigorous 
and  summary  measures  in  dealing  with  the  enemies  of  the 
republic. 

General  McDowell's  "invasion  of  Virginia"  on  May  23  was 
followed  by  several  weeks  of  military  inactivity  on  the  Potomac, 
broken  only  by  a  dash  of  the  Union  cavalry  into  Fairfax  Court 
house  and  the  skirmish  at  Vienna,  wThere  a  regiment  of  Ohio 
troops,  who  were  backed  on  a  railroad  train  into  a  rebel  ambus 
cade,  lost  twenty  men.  On  July  16  the  Union  army  began  a 
forward  movement  against  the  rebels  who  were  found  in  position 
about  and  along  a  creek  known  as  Bull  Run.  After  a  short  and 
indecisive  engagement  on  that  day,  General  McDowell  commenced 
to  concentrate  his  forces  for  an  attack  on  Beauregard's  line,  but 
various  delays  prevented  any  definite  movement  until  Sunday, 
July  21.  On  that  date  was  fought  the  battle  of  Bull  Run, 
ending  in  a  complete  Union  defeat,  attended  by  severe  losses 
and  a  panic-stricken  retreat  by  many  regiments,  and  followed 
by  great  national  dismay  and  alarm.  An  inquiry  into  the 
blundering  strategy,  political  half  -  heartedness,  and  poor  general 
ship,  which  were  the  causes  of  this  unnecessary  and  most  serious 
reverse,  are  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  work.  Mr.  Chandler 
was  one  of  a  large  number  of  members  of  Congress  who  joined 
the  army  on  the  eve  of  battle,  and  watched  its  progress  to  the 
final  disaster.  The  First  Michigan  was  among  the  regiments 
engaged  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  the  Second  and  Third 
were  in  the  brigade  of  Gen.  I.  B.  Richardson,  which  acted  as  a 
rear -guard  in  the  retreat  of  the  army  and  prevented  defeat  from 


REBELLION !  211 

becoming  a  total  rout.  Mr.  Chandler  himself  aided  in  halting 
and  rallying  the  panic-stricken  fugitives/*  and  reached  "Washing 
ton  late  at  night,  covered  with  mud  and  wearied  with  travel 
arid  hunger.  He  drove  at  once  to  the  White  House,  where  he 
found  Mr.  Lincoln  despondent,  exhausted  with  his  labors,  and 
greatly  depressed  by  the  defeat  and  the  loss  of  life  involved. 
Mr.  Chandler  urged  upon  the  President  the  necessity  of  vigorous 
measures,  the  wisdom  of  calling  for  more  troops,  and  the  cer 
tainty  that  the  North,  would  follow  the  Administration  in  meeting 
a  reverse  with  undismayed  and  redoubled  energies.  He  asked 
Mr.  Lincoln  to  issue  an  order  for  the  enrolling  of  500,000  men 
at  once,  "  to  show  to  the  country  and  the  rebels  that  the  govern- 
"  ment  was  not  discouraged  a  whit,  but  was  just  beginning  to 
"  get  mad."  Mr.  Chandler's  vitality,  the  timely  vigor  of  his 
bold  words,  and  his  overwhelming  earnestness  acted  as  a  tonic 
upon  the  over -burdened  Executive,  and  he  left  Mr.  Lincoln 
cheered,  encouraged  and  resolute.  The  governors  of  the  loyal 
States  were  at  once  appealed  to  for  more  troops,  and  the  answer 
of  the  Xorth  to  Bull  Run  was  the  rush  of  tens  of  thousands  of 
men  into  camp  and  the  organization  of  great  armies  along  the 
Potomac,  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi.  Secretary  Stanton,  who 
knew  of  this  midnight  interview,  estimated  its  effect  upon  the 
course  of  events  as  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  repeatedly 
said  that  Mr.  Chandler's  opportunely -manifested  courage  and 
vigor  then  saved  the  Union  from  a  great  peril. 

In    the    task    of    re  -  organizing    the    army  after  Bull  Run,  of 
clearing  Washington    of   fugitives,  and   of   extracting   order  from 


*  Whatever  credit  there  was  in  stopping  the  rout  (at  this  point)  is  due  wholly  to 
Senators  Chandler  and  Wade,  and  Representatives  Blake.  Riddle,  and  Morns.  These  gentle 
men,  armed  with  Maynard  rifles  and  navy  revolvers,  sprang  from  their  carriages  some  three 
miles  this  side  of  CentreviRe.  and.  presenting  their  weapons,  in  loud  voices  commanded  the 
fugitives  to  halt  and  turn  back.  Their  bold  and  determined  manner  brought  most  at  that 
point  to  a  stand  -  still  Many  on  horseback,  who  attempted  to  dash  by  them,  had  their 
horses  seized  by  the  bits.  Some  of  the  fugitives  wno  were  armed  menaced  these  gentle 
men.  None,  however,  were  permitted  to  pass  until  the  arrival  of  the  Second  New  Jersey 
Regiment,  on  its  way  to  the  battle-ground,  turned  back  the  flying  soldiers  and  teamsters. 
—  Washington  Intelligencer.  July  22.  1861. 


212  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

chaos,  Mr.  Chandler  rendered  important  aid  to  the  authorities, 
and  after  the  adjournment  returned  to  Michigan  and  threw  his 
strong  energies  into  the  work  of  raising  and  equipping  troops. 
This  letter  (which  was  not  followed  by  any  practical  results, 
owing  to  various  causes)  is  of  interest  as  showing  the  spirit  of 

those  days: 

DETROIT,  Aug.  27,  1861. 
Hon.  Simon  Cameron,  Secretary  of  War. 

MY  DEAR  CAMERON  :  A  Colonel  Elliott,  member  of  the  Canadian  Parlia 
ment,  is  desirous  of  raising  a  regiment  of  Canadian  cavalry  for  the  war  against 
treason.  I  don't  know  how  the  Administration  may  look  upon  this  proposi 
tion,  but  there  are  many  reasons  in  favor  of  its  acceptance. 

1.  Colonel  Elliott  is  a  brave  and  experienced  officer. 

2.  He  is  in   favor  of    the    closest   union   between    the    Canadas    and    the 
United  States,  and  believes  that  this  fraternal  union  upon  the  battle  -  field  would 
tend  strongly  to  cement  a  yet  closer  connection. 

3.  It  would  satisfy  England  that  hands -off  was  her  best  policy. 

The  moment  it  is  proven  that  black  men  are  used  in  the  Southern  army 
against  us,  I  propose  to  recruit  a  few  regiments  of  negroes  in  Canada  myself  to 
meet  that  enemy,  and  I  think  this  would  be  an  opening  wedge  for  the  move 
ment  of  emancipation. 

My  colleague  will  introduce  Colonel  Elliott  to  you  and  explain  more  at 
length.  Truly,  your  friend,  Z.  CHANDLER. 

To  this  same  period  also  belongs  this  characteristic  defense  of 
his  State  and  the  Northwest  against  what  Mr.  Chandler  believed 
—  and  with  reason — to  be  an  unjust  statement: 

To  tke  Editor  of  the  New   York   World  : 

My  attention  has  been  called  to  aa  article  in  your  valuable  and  patriotic 
paper  in  which  you  say:  "The  extreme  Northern  States,  from  Maine  to  Mich- 
' '  igan,  have  not  done  their  duty,  and  it  is  high  time  that  State  pride  aroused 
"them  to  emulate  the  noble  example  of  New  York,  Massachusetts,  and  Rhode 
"Island."  As  I  am  sure  you  would  not  willingly  do  injustice  to  Michigan,  I 
ask  you  to  state  editorially,  the  population  and  the  number  of  regiments  in 
the  field  for  the  war  from  each  of  the  States  whose  example  is  to  be  emu 
lated.  Michigan  had  at  Bull  Run  one  three  -  months'  regiment  (now  recruiting 
and  in  for  the  war)  and  three  regiments  for  the  war,  and  not  a  private  soldier 
in  camp  in  the  State.  Since  that  time  she  has  sent  seven  regiments  for  the 
war,  making  ten  regiments  now  present  in  the  army,  in  addition  to  which 
she  furnished  to  other  States  over  2,000  men,  now  in  the  field,  for  the  reason 
that  the  government  would  accept  no  more  men  from  Michigan  at  that  time, 


REBELLION !  213 

and  the  patriotic  ardor  of  our  citizens  could  not  be  restrained.  We  have  now 
in  camp  nearly  4,000  men,  and  shall  send  two  regiments  this  week  and  two 
more  within  a  few  days. 

The  Northwest  has  done  her  whole  duty  ;  how  is  it  with  the  East  ?  The 
Northwest  has  exceeded  every  call  made  upon  her,  and  yet  you  lack  men 
and  are  denuding  over  2,000  miles  of  border  territory  of  troops  for  the  defense 
of  Washington.  If  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  the  New 
England  States  cannot  defend  Washington,  in  God's  name  what  can  they  do  ? 
The  Northwest  will  defend  the  lines  from  the  mountains  of  Virginia  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  She  will  sweep  secession  and  treason  from  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  aye,  and  will  defend  the  Potomac,  too,  if  she  must.  But  is  not 
this  Union  worth  as  much  to  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Massachusetts  as 
to  the  NorthwTest  ?  Why,  then,  so  tardy  in  supplying  troops  ?  Had  five  of 
the  forty  Northwestern  regiments  now  on  the  Potomac  been  with  Lyon  he 
would  have  won  the  battle  and  cleared  Missouri  !  Had  five  been  with  Mulli 
gan  he  would  now  be  in  possession  of  Lexington  !  Could  ten  of  .them  be 
sent  into  Kentucky  to-morrow  (in  addition  to  what  they  have)  they  would 
clear  the  State  of  secession  in  ten  days,  and  threaten  Tennessee  !  Could  ten 
be  sent  to  Rosecrans  he  would  clear  the  mountains  of  Virginia  and  threaten 
the  rear  of  the  grand  army  !  But,  no  ;  this  cannot  be  done  —  because  the 
East  will  not  do  her  duty.  If  she  does  not  at  once,  the  whole  world  will 
cry  shame.  Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,  Z.  CHANDLER. 

DETROIT,  Sept.  30,  1861. 

During  the  Congressional  recess  he  also  sent  this  letter  of 
characteristic  suggestions  to  the  Secretary  of  War: 

DETROIT,  Nov.  15,  1861. 
Hon.  Simon  Cameron,  Secretary  of  War. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  The  time  for  delivering  a  battle  upon  the  Potomac  has 
now  passed,  and  something  must  and  can  be  done.  In  my  opinion  the  follow 
ing  plan  is  still  feasible,  and  will  close  .the  war  : 

Let  Rosecrans  be  ordered  immediately  to  Kentucky  with  his  army  of  vet 
eran  Northwestern  troops.  Substitute  an  equal  or  larger  number  of  Eastern 
troops  with  an  Eastern  general,  who  will  act  strictly  upon  the  defensive.  Send 
your  Northwestern  troops  now  upon  the  Potomac  to  Cairo  at  once.  Scud  Pope 
(if  he  is  the  man)  to  Missouri  with  sufficient  arms  to  supply  all  the  North 
western  regiments  in  readiness  to  march  on  the  1st  day  of  December.  Let  an 
abundance  of  transports  and  material  be  provided  at  Cairo  and  St.  Louis,  by 
that  date  (December  1st). 

Give  the  order,   "Forward,"  and  then  cut  the  wires. 

Stop  all  official  communication  with  the  Army  of  the  Northwest.  That 
army,  if  thus  untrammeled,  will  spend  New  Year's  day  in  New  Orleans,  via 
Memphis,  and  will  reach  Washington  via  Richmond  by  the  1st  of  May  next. 


214:  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

In  the  meantime  Sherman,  Butler,  and  Burnside  can  take  care  of  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Alabama,  and  North  Carolina  will  fall  of  itself  with 
Virginia  and  the  Gulf  States. 

Is  this  plan  feasible  ? 

None  but  a  traitor  will  say  you  Nay,  for  you  and  I  know  that  200,000 
Northwestern  soldiers,  with  Rosecrans's  and  Lyon's  veterans,  can  and  will  go 
wherever  they  are  ordered,  and  on  time. 

As  to  your  Army  of  the  Potomac,  select  100,000  men  of  your  city  regi 
ments  which  look  well  on  parade,  and  keep  them  for  reviews.  Send  the 
balance  to  the  Gulf  States.  We  want  none  of  them  out  West. 

We  will,  by  recruiting  during  the  winter,  keep  our  Grand  Army  up  to 
200,000  men,  and  furnish  garrisons  as  fast  as  needed  for  captured  towns. 
Very  truly  yours,  Z.  CHANDLER. 

Congress  re -assembled  for  its  regular  session  in  December, 
1861,  and  Mr.  Chandler  was  called  upon  (on  Jan.  IT,  1862)  to 
present  the  credentials  of  the  Hon.  Jacob  M.  Howard  as  his 
colleague  from  Michigan,  vice  Kinsley  S.  Bingham,  who  had 
died  suddenly  in  the  preceding  October.  Mr.  Howard  remained 
a  Senator  for  ten  years,  winning  distinction  in  that  position. 
Throughout  his  term  his  relations  with  his  colleague  were  inti 
mate  and  cordial,  and  the  foremost  merchant  and  the  first  lawyer 
of  Michigan  stood  side  by  side  in  the  Senate  in  the  support  of 
every  important  measure  which  had  for  its  object  the  encourage 
ment  of  loyal  sentiment,  or  the  strengthening  of  the  military  and 
financial  arms  of  the  government,  or  the  prompt  suppression  of 
the  rebellion. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE    COMMITTEE    ON    THE   CONDUCT    OF    THE   WAE. 

UKLN"G  the  Congressional  recess  of  the  autumn  of  1861 
gross  mismanagement  led  to  the  annihilation  at  Ball's 
Bluff  of  a  brigade  of  Union  troops,  led  by  Senator 
Edward  D.  Baker  of  Oregon.  They  had  been  sent 
across  the  Potomac  in  flat-boats  and  skiffs,  were  left  without 
adequate  support,  and,  being  surrounded  by  a  vastly  superior 
force  of  rebels,  were  driven  to  the  edge  of  the  river,  and  there 
either  killed,  wounded,  captured,  or  driven  into  hiding  places 
along  the  banks.  Their  commanding  officer,  who  displayed 
throughout  a  high  order  of  personal  courage,  was  shot  at  the 
head  of  his  line  before  the  final  rout.  General  Baker  was  a 
man  of  eloquence  and  many  gallant  qualities,  and  his  death 
created  a  profound  impression ;  that  he  was  sacrificed  by  military 
incapacity  cannot  be  doubted. 

Congress  met  on  Dec.  2,  1861,  and  on  the  first  business  day 
of  the  session  Mr.  Chandler  offered  a  motion  for  the  expulsion 
of  John  C.  Breckenridge,  who  had  at  last  joined  the  rebels,  and 
it  was  unanimously  adopted.  On  December  5  he  introduced  this 
resolution : 

Resolv-xl,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  disas 
ters  at  Bull  Run  and  Edward's  Ferry  (subsequently  changed  to  Ball's  Bluff), 
with  power  to  send  for  persons  and  papers. 

Mr.  Chandler  said,  in  explanation  of  his  motion,  that  these 
reverses  had  been  attributed  to  politicians,  to  civilians,  to  every 
thing  but  the  right  cause,  and  that  it  was  due  to  the  Senate 
and  to  the  country  that  they  should  be  investigated  and  that  the 


216  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

blame  should  rest  where  it  belonged.  After  some  discussion  the 
Senate  adopted  the  resolution  with  only  three  dissenting  votes, 
first  amending  it  by  providing  for  a  joint  committee  of  both 
branches,  and  by  enlarging  the  scope  of  its  inquiries  so  as  to 
include  "  the  conduct  of  the  war."  The  House  concurred  in  the 
action,  and  the  famous  "  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  " 
was  thus  created.  On  December  17,  Mr.  Chandler  moved  that 
the  Vice  -  President  should  appoint  the  Senate  members,  adding: 
"  I  do  not  know  what  the  parliamentary  usage  may  be  in  a  case 
"  of  this  kind.  If  that  usage  would  give  me  the  position  of 
"chairman,  I  wish  to  say  that,  under  the  circumstances,  I  do  not 
"  wish  to  accept  it."  Mr.  Chandler  had  also  privately  requested 
Mr.  Harnlin  to  appoint  Senator  Wade  to  the  chairmanship,  saying 
it  was  important  that  a  lawyer  should  be  given  that  place,  and 
his  desires  were  followed  in  both  respects.  The  first  committee, 
as  announced  at  that  time,  consisted  of  the  following  Congress 
men  :  On  the  part  of  the  Senate,  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  Zachariah 
Chandler  and  Andrew  Johnson ;  on  the  part  of  the  House, 
Daniel  W.  Gooch  of  Massachusetts,  John  Covode  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  George  W.  Julian  of  Indiana,  and  Moses  F.  Odell  of 
New  York.  Of  the  original  committee,  George  W.  Julian  is 
the  only  one  who  survived  Mr.  Chandler.  When  Andrew  John 
son  was  appointed  Military  Governor  of  Tennessee,  he  resigned 
his  position  upon  the  committee,  and  Senator  Joseph  A.  Wright 
of  Indiana  took  his  place.  Mr.  Wright  served  but  a  year,  and 
after  the  expiration  of  his  term  the  Senate  branch  of  the  com 
mittee  in  the  Thirty -seventh  Congress  consisted  of  only  Mr. 
Chandler  and  Mr.  Wade.  William  Blair  Lord,  now  one  of  the 
official  reporters  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  was  appointed 
its  clerk  and  stenographer. 

The  tone  of  the  Congressional  discussion  upon  Mr.  Chandler's 
proposition  shows  that  this  was  regarded  as  an  exceedingly 
important  step,  for  the  resolution  clothed  the  committee  with 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE. 


21' 


powers  of  very  unusual  magnitude,  which,  if  abused,  must  have 
seriously  embarrassed  the  Administration.  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Sec 
retary  Cameron,  as  well  as  General  Scott  and  General  McClellan, 
opposed  its  appointment  at  the  outset,  but  Mr.  Chandler  took 
prompt  and  successful  measures  to  assure  the  President  that,  if 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER    IN    1862. 

the  plans  of  its  projectors  were  carried  out,  the  committee  would 
be  used  only  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  Executive,  and 
promised  that  it  should  be  made  a  help  and  not  a  hindrance  to 
the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war.  On  this  point  the  Hon. 
James  M.  Edmunds,  who  was  thoroughly  informed  as  to  the 
secret  history  of  that  period,  has  said : 

The  writer  knows  that  the    Administration  was  not  without  fear  that  this 
was  an  unfriendly  measure.     A  member   of   the  Cabinet  expressed  such   fears 


218  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER. 

to  him,  and  said  that  the  President  had  not  only  expressed  doubts  as  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  movement,  but  also  fears  that  the  committee  might,  by 
unfriendly  action,  greatly  embarrass  the  Executive.  On  being  told  by  the 
writer  that  the  measure  was  not  so  intended,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  was 
the  intention  of  the  mover  to  bring  the  committee  to  the  aid  of  the  Adminis 
tration,  he  expressed  much  gratification,  and  said  it  was  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  bring  such  purpose  to  the  knowledge  of  the  President  in  some 
authoritative  way,  and  at  the  earliest  moment  possible.  This  conversation  was 
at  once  reported  to  Senator  Chandler,  whereupon  both  he  and  Senator  Wade 
went  immediately  to  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  assured 
them  that  it  was  their  purpose  to  bring  the  whole  power  of  the  committee  to 
the  aid  of  the  Executive.  From  this  moment  the  most  cordial  relations  existed 
between  the  committee  and  the  Administration.* 

President  Lincoln  and  Secretaries  Cameron  and  Stanton  ulti 
mately  placed  great  reliance  upon  the  committee,  and  constantly, 
throughout  the  war,  it  gave  them  the  most  valuable  assistance. 
Mr.  Wade  and  Mr.  Chandler  were  deeper  in  the  confidence  of 
Secretary  Stanton,  from  their  connection  with  it,  than  were  any 
other  members  of  Congress,  and  differences  of  aim  and  opinion 
between  them  were  exceedingly  rare. 

Upon  organizing  for  work  the  committee  found  itself  con 
fronted  with  an  enormous  task,  inquiries  into  every  phase  of  the 
organization  and  management  of  the  Union  armies  being  referred 
to  it  for  consideration.  "Upon  the  conduct  of  the  war,"  to  quote 
from  its  own  report,  "  depended  the  issue  of  the  experiment 
u  inaugurated  by  our  fathers,  after  the  expenditure  of  so  much 
"  blood  and  treasure  —  the  establishment  of  a  nation  founded 
"  upon  the  capacity  of  man  for  self  -  government.  The  nation 
"  was  engaged  in  a  struggle  for  its  existence ;  a  rebellion, 
"  unparalleled  in  history,  threatened  the  overthrow  of  our  free 
"  institutions,  and  the  most  prompt  and  vigorous  measures  were 
"  demanded  by  every  consideration  of  honor,  patriotism,  and  a 
"  due  regard  for  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  people." 
And  its  sphere  of  duty  was  the  constant  watching  of  the  details 


*  In  "  The  Republic  ' '  magazine  of  April,  1  $71 . 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE.  219 

of  movements,  upon  whose  result  depended  such  vast  interests,  as 
well  as  the  safety  of  thousands  of  lives.  The  committee,  in  lay 
ing  out  its  work,  followed  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Chandler,  which 
was,  first,  to  obtain  such  information  in  respect  to  the  conduct 
of  the  war  as  would  best  enable  them  to  point  out  the  mistakes 
which  had  been  made  in  the  past,  and  the  course  that  promised 
to  ensure  the  avoidance  of  their  repetition ;  second,  to  collect 
such  information  as  the  many  and  laborious  duties  of  the  Presi 
dent  and  Secretary  of  War  prevented  them  from  obtaining,  and 
to  lay  it  before  them  with  those  recommendations  and  sug 
gestions  which  the  circumstances  seemed  to  demand.  Working 
in  such  a  field,  the  committee  soon  became  a  second  Cabinet 
council,  and  its  proceedings  were  constantly  at  the'  President's 
hand.  Its  sessions  were  nearly  perpetual,  and  almost  daily  its 
members  were  in  consultation  with  the  President  or  the  Secretary 
of  War.  Many  of  its  transactions  were  never  committed  to 
paper,  and,  as  the  members  were  sworn  to  the  strictest  secrecy, 
will  never  be  revealed.  Secretary  Stanton  was  frequently  present 
while  the  committee  was  in  session,  and  its  door  was  always 
open  to  him.  There  was  never  any  lack  of  harmony  between 
him  and  its  chief  members,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  utmost  con 
fidence  was  exchanged,  and  this  committee  was  the  right  arm 
of  the  War  Department  in  the  darkest  days  of  the  rebellion. 
Repeatedly,  after  the  examination  of  some  important  witness, 
did  Mr.  Chandler  or  Mr.  Wade  go  at  once  to  the  White  House 
with  the  official  stenographer,  when  Mr.  Stanton  would  be  sent 
for  and  the  stenographic  notes  of  the  evidence  would  be  read  to 
the  President  and  Secretary  of  War  for  their  information  and 
guidance.  From  such  conferences  there  sprang  many  important 
decisions,  and  the  files  and  records  of  the  committee  were  con 
stantly  referred  to  and  relied  upon  as  sources  of  exceedingly 
useful  knowledge  and  hints  both  at  the  White  House  and  at  the 
War  Department. 


220  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Many  subjects  presented  themselves  for  investigation,  any 
one  of  which  would,  in  ordinary  times,  have  required  the  exclu 
sive  attention  of  a  separate  committee,  and  to  follow  out  every 
line  of  inquiry  suggested  was  manifestly  a  practical  impossibility. 
Therefore  the  committee  decided  not  to  undertake  any  investiga 
tions  into  what  might  be  considered  side  issues,  but  to  keep 
their  attention  directed  entirely  to  the  essential  features  of  the 
war,  so  that  they  could  ascertain  and  comprehend  the  necessi 
ties  of  the  armies  and  the  causes  of  disaster  or  complaint,  and 
the  methods  of  supplying  the  one  and  remedying  the  other. 
Attempts  were  made  repeatedly  to  use  its  power  to  punish  enemies 
or  to  avenge  private  grievances,  but  its  members  adhered  reso 
lutely  to  the  straightforward  course  originally  marked  out  as  the 
path  of  its  duty. 

The  first  subject  which  the  committee  carefully  inquired  into 
was  the  defeat  at  Bull  Run.  Many  witnesses  were  examined, 
chiefly  officers  who  were  engaged  in  the  battle  —  Generals  Scott, 
McDowell,  Meigs^  Heintzelman,  Butterfield,  Fitz  -  John  Porter, 
and  others.  The  testimony  was  very  voluminous,  but  the  com 
mittee  reached  an  early  and  unanimous  opinion  as  to  the  causes 
of  the  disaster.  Their  report,  written  by  Mr.  Wade,  said :  "  That 
"which  now  appears  to  have  been  the  great  error  was  the 
"  failure  to  occupy  Centreville  and  Manassas  at  the  time  Alex- 
"  andria  was  occupied,  in  May.  The  position  at  Manassas 
"  controlled  the  railroad  connections  in  all  that  section  of  the 
tc  country.  .  .  .  The  next  cause  of  disaster  was  the  delay  in 
u  proceeding  against  the  enemy  until  the  time  of  the  three 
u  months'  men  was  nearly  expired.  The  enemy  were  allowed 
4-  time  to  collect  their  forces  and-  strengthen  their  position  by 
"  defensive  works.  .  .  .  There  had  been  but  little  time 
u  devoted  to  disciplining  the  troops  and  instructing  them,  even 
u  in  regiments;  hardly  any  instruction  had  been  given  them  in 
"  brigade  movements,  and  none  at  all  as  divisions."  General 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE. 

McDowell  prepared  a  plan  of  campaign,  which  was  approved  by 
the  Cabinet,  and  the  9th  of  July  was  fixed  upon  as  the  day  for 
the  advance ;  but  the  movement  did  not  commence  until  a  week 
later  than  the  appointed  time.  Transportation  was  deficient,  and 
there  was  much  delay  resulting  from  lack  of  discipline  among 
the  troops,  and  when  the  battle  came  the  Union  forces  were 
fatigued  and  not  in  good  fighting  condition.  "But,"  said  the 
report,  "the  principal  cause  of  the  defeat  was  the  failure  of 
"  General  Patterson  to  hold  the  troops  of  General  Johnston  in 
uthe  valley  of  the  Shenandoah."  Patterson  had  23,000  men, 
while  Johnston  had  but  12,000.  Still,  Patterson  disobeyed  the 
orders  of  General  Scott,  which  were  to  make  offensive  demon 
strations  against  General  Johnston  so  as  to  detain  his  army  at 
Winchester,  and  if  he  retreated  to  follow  him  and  keep  up  the 
fight.  Those  orders  were  repeated  every  day  for  more  than  a 
wreek  in  the  telegraphic  correspondence  between  Scott  and  Patter 
son.  Finally,  General  Scott  heard  of  a  large  force  moving  from 
Patterson's  front,  and  telegraphed,  "  Has  not  the  enemy  stolen  a 
march  on  you?"  To  this  Patterson  replied,  "The  enemy  has 
stolen  no  march  upon  me."  while  at  that  very  time  his  large 
army  was  watching  an  empty  camp  and  Johnston  was  far  on  his 
way  to  reinforce  the  rebels  at  Manassas.  Patterson  did  not  dis 
cover  that  Johnston  had  gone  until  he  was  miles  distant,  and 
the  consequence  was  that  McDowell  had  both  Beauregard  and 
Johnston  to  fight,  while  Patterson,  with  23,000  men,  was  lying 
idle  in  his  camp.  This  is  the  substance  of  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  on  the  battle  of  Bull 
Kun,  and  was  the  official  announcement  to  the  country  of  the 
inefficiency  of  the  organization  and  generalship  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac. 

But  before  the  committee  was  organized  the  men  who  were 
responsible  for  this  failure  had  been  displaced,  and  General 
McClellan  had  been  made  the  commander- in -chief.  He  had 


222  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

taken  the  reins  of  authority  amid  national  acclamations,  and  was 
then  at  the  height  of  a  remarkable  popularity,  which  it  is  now 
known  was  adroitly  stimulated  for  political  purposes  by  the  con 
servative  press.  But  on  the  investigation  into  the  second  subject 
taken  up  by  the  committee  (the  disaster  at  Edward's  Ferry  or 
Ball's  Bluff)  facts  came  to  the  knowledge  of  its  members  which 
created  the  suspicion  in  their  minds  that  General  Stone,  who 
was  charged  with  the  blame  of  that  defeat,  and  who,  as  the 
scape -goat,  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  in  Fort  Lafayette,  was 
not  alone  responsible  for  the  calamity,  but  that  the  real  fault 
would  be  found  higher  up.  This  suspicion  they  were  never  able 
to  substantiate  by  absolute  proof,  and  it  was  not  expressed  in 
any  of  their  reports. 

The  third  topic  taken  up  by  the  committee  was  the  military 
management  of  the  Western  Department,  under  General  Fremont. 
This  was  an  inquiry  of  special  importance,  for  the  reason  that 
that  officer,  upon  taking  command  at  St.  Louis,  issued  a  procla 
mation  declaring  free  all  slaves  whose  masters  were  engaged  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States.  This  order  caused  a  great 
excitement  throughout  the  country,  and  the  Republican  party 
was  widely  divided  in  opinion  as  to  its  legality  and  propriety. 
President  Lincoln  was  conservative  on  the  question,  and  revoked 
the  Fremont  order,  much  to  the  disappointment  of  Mr.  Chand 
ler  and  the  other  more  "  advanced "  Republicans.  Hence  the 
committee  approached  the  subject  with  unusual  interest,  and, 
after  a  thorough  investigation,  made  an  elaborate  report.  That 
part  of  this  document  which  relates  to  General  Fremont's  order 
in  regard  to  slaves  was  signed  by  Messrs.  Wade,  Chandler,  Julian, 
and  Covode,  and  showed  the  ground  on  which  these  gentlemen 
then  stood  with  regard  to  emancipation ;  it  was  as  follows : 

But  that  feature  of  General  Fremont's  administration  which  attracted  the 
most  attention,  and  which  will  ever  be  most  prominent  among  the  mr.ny 
points  of  intern t  connected  with  the  history  of  that  department,  is  his  procla- 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE.  223 

mation  of  emancipation.  Whatever  opinion  may  be  entertained  with  reference 
to  the  time  when  the  policy  of  emancipation  should  be  inaugurated,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  General  Fremont  at  that  early  day  rightly  judged  in  regard 
to  the  most  effective  means  of  subduing  this  rebellion.  In  proof  of  that,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  state  that  his  successor,  when  transferred  to  another  depart 
ment,  issued  a  proclamation  embodying  the  same  principle,  and  the  President 
of  the  United  States  has  since  applied  the  same  principle  to  all  the  rebellious 
States;  and  few  will  deny  that  it  must  be  adhered  to  until  the  last  vestige  of 
treason  and  rebellion  is  destroyed. 

The  committee  heartily  endorsed  General  Fremont's  adminis 
tration,  declaring  it  to  have  been  "  eminently  characterized  by 
earnestness,  ability,  and  the  most  unquestionable  loyalty."  They 
also  examined  iirto  various  minor  military  matters  and  move 
ments,  including,  particularly,  rebel  barbarities  and  the  return  of 
slaves  to  their  masters  by  the  army. 

It  was  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of 
the  War  in  the  Thirty -seventh  Congress,  and  from  the  evidence 
taken  in  its  inquiries,  that  Mr.  Chandler  obtained  the  mass  of 
information  which  enabled  him  to  make  the  most  important  of 
his  war  speeches,  that  of  July  16,  1862,  in  which  he  exposed  so 
conclusively  General  McClellan's  utter  incompetence.  Ample  as 
was  the  foundation  of  facts  upon  which  rested  this  effective 
arraignment  of  conspicuous  incapacity,  the  attack  was  one  requir 
ing  genuine  boldness,  for  it  defiantly  invited  a  storm  of 
denunciation  and,  if  it  had  failed  of  justification  by  the  event, 
would  have  certainly  ended  its  maker's  political  career.  Not 
withstanding  his  tardiness,  his  timidity,  his  'inefficiency  as  a 
commander  in  the  field,  and  his  political  sympathy  with  the 
more  unpatriotic  classes  of  the  Northern  people,  General  McClel- 
lan  was  still  strong  with  the  people  and  entrusted  with  great 
powers.  The  Democracy  warmly  commended  his  sentiments  and 
methods,  and  labored  incessantly  to  prevent  any  diminution  of 
his  hold  upon  the  public  confidence.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac 
yet  regarded  him  as  "the  young  Napoleon,"  and  its  corps  com 
manders  were,  with  but  few  exceptions,  his  personal  adherents. 


224:  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

The  long-suffering  President  was  submitting  with  patience  to 
his  unjust  complaints,  after  having  labored  incessantly  to  stim 
ulate  into  activity  his  chronic  sluggishness,  fearful,  with  character 
istic  over -caution,  lest  his  summary  removal  should  divide  the 
North  and  breed  a  dangerous  disaffection  in  the  face  of  the 
enemy  among  his  troops.  Many  who  did  not  believe  in  the 
sincerity  or  ability  of  the  man  also  smothered  their  distrust,  for 
fear  that  criticism  would  only  weaken  the  common  cause  and 
with  the  hope  that  even  in  his  nerveless  hands  the  mighty 
weapon  of  the  national  resources  would  at  last  fall  —  even  if  by 
its  own  weight  only  —  on  the  enemy  with  decisive  force.  At 
this  juncture,  and  under  these  circumstances,  Mr.  Chandler,  with 
characteristic  vigor  of  statement  and  plainness  of  speech,  placed 
before  the  Senate  and  the  country  the  demonstration  of  McClel- 
lan's  imbecility. 

Originally  Mr.  Chandler  believed  that  McClellan's  selection 
as  the  practical  successor  of  General  Scott  wTas  a  wise  one,  and 
hop2d  to  see  his  organizing  capacity  in  camp  supplemented  by 
enterprise  and  courage  in  the  field.  Distrust  first  sprang  up  with 
the  persistent  inaction  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  throughout 
the  last  months  of  1861,  and  it  was  strengthened  by  contact 
with  the  man  himself  and  the  study  of  his  character  and  his 
plans.  An  illustration  of  how  this  change  of  opinion  was  brought 
about  is  given  in  an  incident  which  occurred  in  the  room  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War.  That  committee  sent 
for  General  McClellan  as  soon  as  they  took  up  matters  relating 
to  his  command,  in  order  to  consult  with  him  informally  as  to 
the  situation.  This  was  in  January,  1861,  while  he  was  in 
Washington  "  organizing "  his  army,  and  while  there  wTas  no 
little  impatience  felt  because  he  did  not  move.  He  was  not 
formally  summoned  before  the  committee  then,  but  simply  called 
in  for  general  consultation.  After  the  regular  business  was 
finished,  Mr.  Chandler  asked  him  bluntly  why  he  did  not  attack 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE. 

the  rebels.  General  McClellan  replied  that  it  was  because  there 
were  not  sufficient  means  of  communication  with  Washington ; 
he  then  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  were  only  two 
bridges  and  no  other  means  of  transportation  across  the  Potomac. 

Mr.  Chandler  asked  what  the  number  of  bridges  had  to  do 
with  an  advance  movement,  and  McClellan  explained  with  much 
detail  that  it  was  one  of  the  most  important  features  of  skillful 
strategy  that  a  commander  should  have  plenty  of  room  to  retreat 
before  making  an  attack.  To  this  Mr.  Chandler's  response  was: 

"  General  McClellan,  if  I  understand  you  correctly,  before 
"  you  strike  at  the  rebels  you  want  to  be  sure  of  plenty  of  room 
"  so  that  you  can  run  in  case  they  strike  back ! " 

"  Or  in  case  you  get  scared,"  added  Senator  Wade. 

The  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  manifested 
indignation  at  this  blunt  way  of  putting  the  case,  and  then  pro 
ceeded  at  length  to  explain  the  art  of  war  and  the  science  of 
generalship,  laying  special  stress  upon  the  necessity  of  having 
lines  of  retreat,  as  well  as  lines  of  communication  and  supply, 
always  open.  He  labored  hard  to  make  clear  all  the  methods 
and  counter -methods  upon  which  campaigns  are  managed  and 
battles  fought,  and,  as  he  was  an  accomplished  master  of  the 
theory  of  war,  succeeded  in  rendering  himself  at  least  interest 
ing.  After  he  had  concluded,  Mr.  Wade  said  : 

"  General,  you  have  all  the  troops  you  have  called  for,  and 
"  if  you  haven't  enough,  you  shall  have  more.  They  are  well 
"  organized  and  equipped,  and  the  loyal  people  of  this  country 
"  expect  that  you  will  make  a  short  and  decisive  campaign.  Is 
"  it  really  necessary  for  you  to  have  more  bridges  over  the  Poto- 
"  mac  before  you  move  ? " 

"Not  that,"  was  the  answer,  "not  that  exactly,  but  we  must 
"  bear  in  mind  the  necessity  of   having  everything  ready  in  case 
"  of  a  defeat,  and  keep  our  lines  of  retreat  open." 
15 


226  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER. 

"With  this  remark  General  McClellan  left  the  room,  where 
upon  'Mr.  Wade  asked : 

"  Chandler,  what  do  you  think  of  the  science  of  general 
ship?" 

"  I  don't  know  much  about  war,"  was  the  reply,  "  but  it 
seems  to  me  that  this  is  infernal,  unmitigated  cowardice." 

The  committee,  after  this  interview,  made  a  careful  inquiry 
into  the  strength  of  the  rebel  forces  confronting  the  elaborate 
intrenchments  about  Washington,  and  became  convinced  that  the 
army  at  and  about  Manassas  was  a  handful  compared  with  the 
magnificent  body  of  troops  under  McClellan  \s  command.  They 
submitted  these  facts  to  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  at  a 
special  session  held  for  that  purpose,  arid  urged  the  importance 
of  an  instant  advance.  With  one  single  exception  (a  Cabinet 
officer)  the  heads  of  the  departments  and  the  committee  agreed 
that  an  offensive  movement  from  the  line  of  the  Potomac  into 
Virginia  was  important  and  must  be  made.  General  McClellan 
promised  that  his  army  should  start,  but  it  did  not.  Toward  the 
close  of  the  winter  the  President  ordered  a  general  advance,  but 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  still  remained  immobile.  Finally,  on 
March  10,  under  the  peremptory  orders  of  the  President,  it  did 
advance  to  Centreville  and  found  there  deserted  camps,  wooden 
guns,  weak  intrenchments,  and  traces  of  the  retreat  of  not  more 
than  a  single  full  corps  of  rebel  troops.  It  was  during  this  most 
aggravating  delay  that  members  of  the  committee  had  another 
characteristic  interview  with  General  McClellan.  On  the  19th  of 
February  a  sub  -  committee  waited  upon  the  Secretary  of  War*  to 
ask  why  the  army  was  idle,  and  why  the  city  of  Washington 
and  the  North  side  of  the  Potomac  river  were  crowded  with 
troops  when  the  enemy  was  all  in  Virginia.  Mr.  Wade  said 
that  it  was  a  disgrace  to  the  nation  that  Washington  was  thus 
allowed  to  remain  to  all  intents  and  purposes  in  a  state  of  siege. 

*  Edwin  M.  Stanton  had  succeeded  Simon  Cameron  on  Jan.  13,  1862. 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE.  227 

To  this  Secretary  Stanton  replied  that  the  committee  could  not 
feel  more  keenly  upon  this  subject  than  did  he,  that  he  did  not 
go  to  bed  at  night  without  his  cheek  burning  with  shame  at  this 
disgrace,  and  that  the  subject  had  received  his  earnest  attention, 
but  he  had  not  been  able  to  change  the  situation  as  he  wished. 
General  McClellan  was  then  sent  for,  and  Secretary  Stanton 
stated  to  him  the  object  of  the  visit,  and  repeated  the  inquiries 
as  to  why  an  advance  movement  was  not  made  into  Virginia, 
the  rebels  driven  away  from  Washington,  and  the  soldiers  who 
were  idle  in  their  camps  in  and  around  the  city  sent  to  active 
duty. 

General    McClellan    answered    that    he    was    considering    the 

o 

matter,  but  that  instant  action  was  impossible,  although  he  hoped 
that  he  would  soon  be  able  to  decide  what  ought  to  be  done. 
The  committee  asked  what  time  he  would  require  to  reach  a 
decision.  He  replied  that  it  depended  upon  circumstances;  that 
he  would  not  give  his  consent  to  have  the  troops  about  Wash 
ington  sent  over  to  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac  without 
having  their  rear  protected  more  fully,  and  better  lines  of  retreat 
open;  that  he  designed  throwing  a  temporary  bridge  across  the 
river  as  soon  as  possible,  and  making  a  permanent  structure  of 
it  at  his  leisure.  That  would  make  three  bridges,  and  then  the 
requisite  precautions  would  be  completed. 

Mr.  Wade  replied,  with  great  impatience,  that  with  150,000 
of  the  best  troops  the  world  ever  saw,  there  was  no  need  of 
more  bridges;  that  the  rebels  were  inferior  in  numbers  and  con 
dition,  and  that  retreat  would  be  treason.  "  These  150,000  men," 
Mr.  Wade  said,  "  could  whip  the  whole  Confederacy  if  they  were 
"  given  a  chance ;  if  I  was  their  commander  1  would  lead  them 
"  across  the  Potomac,  and  they  should  not  come  back  until  they 
"  had  won  a  victory  and  the  war  was  ended,  or  they  came  in 
"  their  coffins."  Mr.  Wade  spoke  strongly  and  plainly  through 
out  the  interview,  and  the  Secretary  of  War  endorsed  every 


228  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

word  lie  uttered.  The  committee  had  another  conference  with 
Secretary  Staiiton  on  the  following  day  at  his  residence,  at  which 
it  was  decided  that  they  should  co-operate  with  him  in  an  effort 
to  persuade  President  Lincoln  either  to  displace  McClellan  or  to 
compel  him  to  commence  an  active  campaign  at  once.  On  the 
25th  of  February  this  conference  with  the  President  was  held, 
and  it  was  followed  by  others,  Senators  Chandler  and  Wade 
finally  threatening  to  make  the  laggardness  of  the  commander  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  a  subject  of  debate  in  the  Senate, 
and  to  offer  a  resolution  directing  the  President  to  order  an 
advance  forthwith.  The  first  result  was  what  the  committee 
were  so  anxious  to  accomplish.  In  March,  the  armies  commenced 
to  move,  and  McClellan,  at  last  taking  the  field  in  person,  pushed 
out  to  Centre ville,  and  1hen  followed  up  this  delayed  advance 
by  his  flank  movement  to  the  Peninsula,  driving  the  rebels  out 
of  Yorktown  by  a  month's  work  with  the  shovel,  and  following 
General  Johnston  np  to  Williamsburg,  where  a  bloody  victory 
was  won,  but  its  fruits  were  left  ungathered.  This  campaign 
was  short,  bloody,  and  blundering,  ending  with  the  battle  of 
Malvern  Hill,  which  was  also  deprived  of  its  proper  importance 
by  McClellan's  failure  to  follow  up  his  advantage  with  a  prompt 
advance  upon  Richmond,  and  which  thus  in  the  end  amounted 
to  but  little  more  than  another  Union  reverse.  Mr.  Chandler 
always  firmly  believed  that  had  McClellan  moved  toward  the 
rebel  capital  and  not  toward  his  gunboats  after  Malvern  Hill, 
the  war  would  have  been  shortened  by  two  years. 

"When  it  first  became  evident  that  General  McClellan  was, 
by  sullenness  and  incapacity,  throwing  away  advantages  gained 
by  the  heroism  of  his  troops  on  the  Peninsula,  Mr.  Chandler 
determined  to  denounce  him  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  but  was 
restrained  by  Mr.  Stanton,  who  urged  that,  while  the  campaign 
was  still  in  active  progress,  there  was  yet  some  hope  of  a  change 
for  the  better,  and  that  to  destroy  confidence  in  a  commanding 


THE  WAR  COMMITTEE.  229 

officer  under  such  circumstances  might  injure  the  army  in  the 
field.  After  Malvern  Hill  these  reasons  ceased  to  have  force, 
and  Mr.  Chandler  commenced  the  careful  preparation  of  his 
speech.  This  time  the  Secretary  of  War  endorsed  the  timeliness 
as  well  as  the  truth  of  the  expose,  and  the  Committee  on  the 
Conduct  of  the  War  by  formal  vote  authorized  the  use  of  the 
testimony  taken  before  it  and  not  yet  made  public.  After  he 
had  gathered  and  grouped  the  facts  which  formed  the  basis  of 
his  arraignment,  Mr.  Chandler  submitted  them  to  a  friend  upon 
whose  good  judgment  and  sincerity  he  greatly  relied,  and  asked: 

"Knowing  all  these  facts,  as  T  do,  what  is  my  duty?" 

The  answer  was:  "Beyond  all  question,  these  facts  ought 
"to  be  laid  before  the  country,  for  the  knowledge  of  them  is 
"  essential  to  its  safety.  But  they  will  create  a  storm  that  will 
"  sweep  either  you  or  McClellaii  from  public  life,  and  it  is  more 
"  than  probable  that  you  will  be  the  victim." 

Mr.  Chandler  said :  "  I  did  not  ask  your  opinion  of  the 
consequences,  but  of  my  duty." 

To  this  it  was  replied :  "  The  speech  ought  to  be  made,  and 
no  one  else  will  make  it." 

Mr.  Chandler  simply  said:  "  It  will  be  made  to-day ;  come 
and  hear  it."  And  he  did  make  it,  in  the  midst  of  a  run 
ning  discussion  on  a  bill  "to  provide  for  the  discharge  of  state 
prisoners  and  others,"  which  was  the  special  order  in  the  Senate 
for  that  day  (July  10,  1802). 

Mr.  Chandler  commenced  by  briefly  reciting  the  history  of 
the  appointment  of  the  committee,  and  then  gave  from  the 
evidence  taken  at  its  sessions  a  compact  summary  of  the  causes 
of  the  Bull  Run  disaster,  fortifying  each  point  with  citations 
from  the  testimony.  After  closing  this  part  of  his  speech  he 
proceeded  to  review  the  Ball's  Bluff  catastrophe,  saying: 

Were  the  people  discouraged,  depressed  ?  Xot  at  all.  Untold  thousands 
rushed  into  the  shattered  Tanks,  eager  to  wipe  out  the  stain  and  stigma  of 


230  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

that  defeat  (Bull  Run).  From  the  East,  the  West,  the  North,  and  the  Middle 
States,  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands  came 
pouring  in,  until  the  government  said,  "Hold,  enough."  The  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  denuded  in  August  of  three  -  months'  men  and  scarcely  numbering 
50,000  efficient  men,  swelled  in  September  to  over  100,000,  in  October  to 
150,000,  in  November  to  175,000  and  upward,  until,  on  the  10th  day  of 
December,  the  morning  rolls  showed  195,400  men,  and  thirteen  regiments 
not  reported,  chiefly  intended  for  the  Burnside  expedition,  but  all  under 
the  command  of  General  McClellan.  During  the  months  of  October,  Novem 
ber,  and  December,  the  weather  was  delightful  and  the  roads  fine.  The 
question  began  to  be  asked  in  October,  when  will  the  advance  take  place  ? 
All  had  the  most  unbounded  confidence  in  the  army  and  its  young  gen 
eral,  and  were  anxiously  waiting  for  a  Napoleonic  stroke.  It  came,  but 
such  a  stroke !  That  a  general  movement  was  being  prepared  the  whole 
country  had  known  for  weeks;  but  when  the  terrific  blow  was  to  be  struck 
no  one  knew  save  the  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  nation 
believed  in  its  young  commander  ;  the  President  relied  upon  him,  and  all, 
myself  included,  had  the  most  unbounded  confidence  in  the  result  of  the 
intended  movement.  It  came !  On  the  21st  of  October,  McCall's  division, 
12,000  strong,  was  ordered  to  Drainesville  upon  a  reconnoissance.  Smith's 
division,  12,000  strong,  was  ordered  to  support  him.  McCall's  reconnoissance 
extended  four  miles  beyond  Drainesville,  and  to  within  nine  miles  of  Leesburg. 
Stone,  on  Sunday,  was  informed  of  McCall's  and  Smith's  advance,  and  directed 
to  make  a  slight  demonstration  upon  Leesburg.  How  ?  He  could  do  it  in 
but  one  way,  and  that  was  by  crossing  the  river  and  moving  upon  it.  [Mr. 
Chandler  here  introduced  a  mass  of  testimony  and  official  orders  to  show  that 
Col.  E.  D.  Baker,  whom  General  Stone  sent  across  the  Potomac  at  Ball's 
Bluff,  had  ample  reasons  to  believe  that  he  would  be  sustained  in  that  advance, 
and  reinforced  if  necessary.  He  proceeded:]"  Thus  it  is  shown  that  Colonel 
Baker  had  reason  to  expect  reinforcements,  for  the  enemy  were  to  be  pushed 
upon  their  flank  by  General  Gorman. 

At  two  o'clock  on  Monday  morning  Colonel  Devens  crossed  the  river  upon 
a  reconnoissance  with  400  men  at  Ball's  Bluff,  opposite  Harrison's  Island,  as 
directed  by  General  Stone.  At  daylight  Colonel  Baker  was  ordered  to  cr.xss 
to  the  support  of  Colonel  Devens.  I  have  read  his  orders.  One  scow  and 
two  small  boats  were  their  only  means  of  transportation.  At  eight  o'clock  on 
Monday  morning  the  fight  commenced  by  Colonel  Devens,  and  Colonel  Baker 
was  placed  in  command,  as  is  alleged,  with  discretionary  orders.  Colonel 
Baker  knew  that  Smith  and  McCall  were  at  Drainesville,  or  within  striking 
distance,  that  our  troops  were  crossing  at  Edward's  Ferry,  or,  in  other  words, 
that  40,000  effective  men  were  within  twelve  miles  of  him,  and  that  at  least 
30,000  were  upon  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac,  and  thai,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  he  must  be  reinforced.  He  did  not  know  that  at  half -past  ten  A.M., 
of  Monday,  or  two  and  one -half  hours  after  Colonel  Devens  commenced  the 


THE   WAR    COMMITTEE. 

flglit,  the  divisions  of  Smith  and  McCall  commenced  their  retreat  by  the 
express  orders  of  General  McClellan.  He  knew  that  Colonel  Devens  was  con 
tending  with  greatly  superior  forces,  and,  like  a  gallant  soldier  as  he  was,  he 
hastened  to  his  relief  with  all  the  force  he  could  cross  with  his  inadequate 
means  of  transportation. 

Colonel  Baker  has  been  charged  with  imprudence  and  rashness  ;  but 
neither  the  facts  nor  the  testimony  support  the  charge.  Instead  of  rashly  or 
imprudently  advancing  into  the  enemy's  lines,  as  was  alleged,  he  did  not  move 
ten  rods  from  the  Bluff,  and  the  only  sustaining  witness  to  this  charge  was 
one  officer,  who  swore  that  he  thought  Colonel  Baker  imprudently  exposed 
himself  to  the  enemy's  bullets.  This  kind  of  rashness  is  usually  pardoned 
after  the  death  of  the  perpetrator.  At  two  o'clock  p.  M.  Colonel  Baker  found 
himself  in  command  of  about  1,800  men  upon  Bali's  Bluff,  including  Devens's 
men  and  three  guns,  and  the  fighting  commenced.  The  alternatives  were  fight 
and  conquer,  surrender,  or  be  captured.  That  noble  band  of  heroes  and  their 
gallant  commander  understood  these  terrible  alternatives  as  well  upon  that 
bloo.ly  field  as  we  do  now,  and  nobly  did  they  vindicate  their  manhood. 
During  all  those  long  hours,  from  two  o'clock  p.  M.  until  the  early  dusk  of 
evening,  the  gallant  Baker  continued  the  unequal  contest,  when  he  fell  pierced 
by  three  bullets  and  instantly  expired.  A  council  of  war  was  called  (after 
the  frightful  death-struggle  over  his  lifeless  remains  and  for  them),  and  it 
was  decided  that  the  only  chance  of  an  escape  was  by  cutting  through  the 
enemy  and  reaching  Edward's  Ferry,  which  was  at  once  decided  upon  ;  but, 
while  forming  for  the  desperate  encounter,  the  enemy  rushed  upon  our  little 
band  of  heroes  in  overpowering  numbers,  and  the  rout  was  perfect.  .  .  . 
How  many  were  killed  in  battle,  how  many  drowned  in  the  relentless  river, 
will  never  be  correctly  known  ;  suffice  it  to  say,  our  little  force  was  destroyed. 
Why  was  this  little  band  permitted  to  be  destroyed  by  a  force  little  more 
than  double  its  numbers  in  presence  of  40,000  splendid  troops  ?  Why  were 
McCall  and  Smith  ordered  back  at  the  very  moment  that  Baker  was  ordered 
to  cross  ?  If  we  wanted  Leesburg,  McCall  could  have  taken  it  without  the 
loss  of  a  man,  as  his  movement  in  mass  had  already  caused  its  evacuation, 
and  the  enemy  did  not  return  in  force  until  after  McCall  had  retreated.  If 
we  did  not  wish  to  capture  Leesburg,  why  did  we  cross  at  all  ?  Of  what  use 
is  "a  slight  demonstration"  even,  without  results?  These  are  questions  which 
the  people  will  ask,  and  no  man  can  satisfactorily  answer.  Why  were  not 
reinforcements  sent  from  Edward's  Ferry  to  Colonel  Baker  ?  The  distance 
was  only  three  -  and -a -half  miles.  We  had  1,500  men  across  at  two  o'clock 
on  Monday,  and  the  universal  concurrent  testimony  of  officers  and  men  is  that 
a  reinforcement  of  even  1,000  men  —  some  say  500,  and  one  gallant  captain 
swears  that  with  100  men  he  could  have  struck  them  upon  the  flank,— 
would  have  changed  the  result  of  the  day.  Why  were  not  reinforcements 
sent  ?  Stone  swears,  as  I  have  already  shown,  that  there  were  batteries 
between  Edward's  Ferry  and  Ball's  Bluff  which  would  have  utterly  destroyed 


232  ZACHAHIAH  CHANDLER. 

any  force  he  could  have  sent  to  Baker's  relief,  and  that  Baker  knew  it.  But 
Stone  was  not  sustained  by  a  single  witness  ;  on  the  contrary,  all  swear  that 
there  were  not,  to  their  knowledge,  and  that  they  did  not  believe  there  were 
anv,  and  a  civilian  living  upon  the  spot,  and  in  the  habit  of  passing  over  the 
ground  frequently,  swears  there  were  none  ;  and  again.  Stone,  when  questioned 
as  to  the  erection  of  forts  under  the  range  of  his  guiis  upon  his  second 
examination,  swears  positively  that  there  is  not  a  gun  now  between  Edward's 
Ferry  and  Ball's  Bluff,  and  never  has  been.  Why,  then,  were  not  reinforce 
ments  sent  from  Edward's  Ferry  ?  Let  the  men  who  executed  and  planned  this 
horrible  slaughter  answer  to  God  and  an  outraged  country.  General  Banks 
swears  that  his  orders  were  such  from  General  McClellan,  that,  upon  his  arrival 
at  Edward's  Ferry,  although  his  judgment  was  against  crossing,  he  did  not 
feel  himself  at  liberty  to  decline  crossing,  and  he  remained  upon  the  Virginia 
side  until  Thursday.  ...  So  much  for  the  wholesale  murder  at  Ball's 
Bluff. 

Mr.  Chandler  next  attacked  General  McClellaii's  disastrous 
procrastination.  Describing  the  lapse  of  an  army  of  150,000 
men  into  a  state  of  chronic  inaction  in  its  intrenchments  about 
Washington  after  the  Ball's  Bluff  disaster,  he  laid  before  the 
Senate  and  the  country  documents  which  proved  these  facts :  In 
October,  1861,  the  Navy  Department  requested  that  4,000  men 
might  be  detailed  to  hold  Matthias  Point  on  the  lower  Potomac, 
after  the  gunboats  should  have  shelled  out  the  rebels,  who  were 
then  in  possession,  and  thus  in  control  of  the  navigation  of 
that  important  river.  General  McClellan  agreed  to  furnish  the 
infantry  ;  twice  the  Xavy  Department  prepared  its  vessels  for  the 
expedition,  but  the  troops  did  not  report  for  duty,  so  that,  finally, 
the  gunboats  were  necessarily  detailed  for  other  service,  and  the 
unnecessary,  expensive  and  humiliating  blockade  of  the  Potomac 
continued  for  months.  Mr.  Chandler  then  proceeded; 

Why  was  this  disgrace  so  long  submitted  to  ?  ISTo  man  knows  or  attempts 
to  explain.  Month  after  month  one  of  the  most  splendid  armies  the  world 
had  ever  seen,  of  200,000  men,  permitted  itself  and  the  national  capital  to  be 
besieged  by  a  force  never  exceeding  one  -  half  its  own  number. 

During  the  month  of  December,  the  nation  became  impatient.  The  time 
had  arrived  and  passed  when  we  were  promised  a  forward  movement.  The 
roads  were  good,  the  weather  splendid,  the  army  in  high  condition,  and  eager 
for  the  fray.  How  long  the  roads  and  weather  would  permit  the  movement, 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE.  233 

no  man  could  predict  ;  still  there  was  no  movement.  The  generals,  with  great 
unanimity,  declared  that  the  army  had  reached  its  maximum  of  proficiency 
as  volunteers,  but  still  there  was  no  movement.  Under  these  circumstances, 
the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  asked  an  interview  with  the  Presi 
dent  and  Cabinet,  and  urged  that  the  winter  should  not  be  permitted  to  pass 
without  action,  as  it  would  lead  to  an  incalculable  loss  of  life  and  treasure  by 
forcing  our  brave  troops  into  a  summer  campaign,  in  a  hot  and  to  them 
inhospitable  climate.  The  President  and  Cabinet  were  united  in  the  desire 
that  an  immediate  advance  should  be  made,  but  it  Avas  not  made,  although 
we  were  assured  by  General  McClellan  that  it  would  be  very  soon,  that  he 
had  no  intention  of  going  into  winter  quarters,  and  he  did  not  !  While  the 
enemy  erected  comfortable  huts  at  Centreville  and  Manassas  for  their  winter 
quarters,  our  brave  and  eager  troops  spent  the  most  uncomfortable  winter  ever 
known  in  this  climate  under  canvas,  as  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
invalid  soldiers  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  will  attest. 
Why  did  not  the  army  move  in  all  December,  or  why  did  it  not  go  into 
winter  quarters  ?  No  man  knows,  nor  is  any  reason  assigned. 

On  the  1st  day  of  January,  1862,  and  for  months  previous  to  that  date, 
the  armies  of  the  republic  were  occupying  a  purely  defensive  position  upon 
the  whole  line  from  Missouri  to  the  Atlantic,  until  on  or  about  the  27th 
of  January  the  President  and  Secretary  of  War  issued  the  order  forward. 
Then  the  brave  Foote  took  the  initiative,  soliciting  2,000  men  from  Halleck  to 
hold  Fort  Henry  after  he  had  captured  it  with  his  gunboats.  They  were 
promptly  furnished,  and  Henry  fell  ;  then  Donelson,  with  its  15.000  prisoners  ; 
then  Newbern,  and  the  country  was  electrified.  Credit  was  given  where  credit 
was  due.  Do-nothing  strategy  gave  way  to  an  "immediate  advance  upon  the 
enemy's  works,"  and  the  days  of  spades  and  pickaxes  seemed  to  be  ended. 
On  the  22d  of  February  a  forward  movement  upon  our  whole  line  was 
ordered,  but  did  not  take  place.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  not  ready  ; 
but  on  the  10th  of  March  it  moved,  against  the  protest  of  the  commanding 
general  and  eight  out  of  twelve  of  the  commanders  of  divisions;  but  the  Presi 
dent  was  inexorable:  and  the  movement  must  be  made  It  proceeded  to 
Centreville,  and  there  found  deserted  huts,  wooden  artillery,  and  intrench- 
mcnts  which  could  and  can  be  successfully  charged  by  cavalry.  It  proceeded 
to  Manassas,  and  found  no  fortifications  worthy  of  the  name,  a  deserted,  aban 
doned  camp,  and  dead  horses  for  trophies.  The  enemy,  less  than  40,000  men, 
had  leisurely  escaped,  carrying  away  all  their  artillery,  baggage,  arms,  and 
stores.  Our  Army  of  the  Potomac,  on  that  10th  day  of  March,  showed  by 
its  muster-roll  a  force  of  230,000  men.  Comment  is  needless!  The  Grand 
Army  of  the  Potomac  proceeded  toward  Gordonsville,  found  no  enemy, 
repaired  the  railroad,  and  then  marched  back  again. 

Why  this  Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac  did  not  march  upon  Richmond  has 
never  been  satisfactorily  explained,  and  probably  never  wiS  be.  One  reason 
assigned  was  lack  of  transportation ;  but  there  were  two  railroads,  one  by 


234:  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 


way  of  Acquia  Creek  and  Fredericksburg,  the  other  via  Manassas  and  Gor- 
donsville,  which  could  have  been  repaired  at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  per  day, 
and  our  army  was  ample  to  guard  it.  Had  this  overwhelming  force  proceeded 
directly  to  Richmond  by  these  lines,  it  would  have  spent  the  1st  day  of  May 
in  Richmond,  and  ere  this  the  rebellion  would  have  been  ended.  This  grand 
army,  ably  commanded,  was  superior  to  any  army  the  world  has  seen  for  five 
hundred  years.  Napoleon  I.  never  fought  130,000  men  upon  one  battle-field. 
Yet  this  noble  army  was  divided  and  virtually  sacrificed  by  some  one.  Who 
is  the  culprit  ? 

Before  the  advance  upon  Manassas,  General  McClellan  changed  his  plans, 
and  demanded  to  be  permitted  to  leave  the  enemy  intrenched  at  Centreville 
and  Manassas,  to  leave  the  Potomac  blockaded,  and  to  take  his  army  to 
Annapolis  by  land,  and  there  embark  them  for  the  rear  of  the  enemy  to 
surprise  him.  In  the  council  of  war  called  upon  this  proposition,  the  com 
manding  general  and  eight  out  of  twelve  of  the  commanders  of  divisions  (and 
here  permit  me  to  say  that  I  am  informed  that  seven  out  of  the  eight  generals 
were  appointed  upon  the  recommendation  of  General  McClellan)  voted  that  it 
was  not  safe  to  advance  upon  the  wooden  guns  of  Centreville,  and  to  adopt 
the  new  plan  of  campaign.  The  President  and  the  Secretary  of  War  over 
ruled  this  pusillanimous  decision,  and  compelled  McClellan  to  "move  imme 
diately  upon  the  enemy's  works."  lie  marched,  and  the  trophies  of  that 
memorable  campaign  are  known  to  the  Senate  and  the  country. 

At  Fairfax,  General  McClellan  changed  his  plan  and  decided  not  to 
advance  upon  the  rebels  with  his  whole  force,  but  to  return  to  Alexandria, 
divide  his  army,  and  embark  for  Fortress  Monroe  and  Yorktown.  It  was 
decided  that  45,000  men  should  be  left  for  the  defense  of  the  capital,  and  he 
was  permitted  to  embark.  After  much  delay  (unavoidable  in  the  movement  of 
so  vast  a  force,  with  its  enormous  material)  the  general -in -chief  himself 
embarked.  Soon  after  he  sailed  it  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Committee 
on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  that  the  capital,  with  its  vast  accumulation  of 
material  of  war,  had  been  left  by  General  McClellan  virtually  without  defense, 
and  the  enemy's  whole  force,  large  or  small,  was  untouched  in  front.  [Mr. 
Chandler  here  introduced  the  official  testimony  to  prove  that  General  McClellan 
had  so  denuded  Washington  as  to  compel  the  President  to  interpose  and 
detain  General  McDowell's  corps  for  its  adequate  defense.  He  then  said  :  J 
The  country  has  been  deceived.  It  has  been  led  to  believe  that  the  Secretary 
of  War  or  somebody  else  has  interfered  with  General  McClellan's  plans,  when 
he  had  an  army  that  could  have  crushed  any  other  army  on  the  face  of  the 
earth.  One  hundred  and  fifty -eight  thousand  of  the  best  troops  that  ever 
stood  on  God's  footstool  were  sent  down  to  the  Peninsula  and  placed  under 
command  of  General  McClellan  ;  and  yet  the  whole  treasonable  press  of  the 
country  has  been  howling  after  the  Secretary  of  War  because  of  his  alleged 
refusal  to  send  reinforcements  to  General  McClellan.  As  I  said  the  other  day, 
lie  has  sent  every  man,  every  sabre,  every  bayonet,  every  horse,  that  could 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE.  235 

be  spared  from  any  source  whatever  to  increase  that  grand  army  under 
General  McClellan  in  front  of  Richmond.  Why  did  he  not  enter  Richmond? 
We  shall  see.  .  .  .  It  is  not  for  me,  sir,  to  state  the  strength  of 
McClellan's  army  at  this  time  ;  but  I  know  it  is  158,000  men,  less  the  number 
lost  by  sickness  and  casualties.  Does  any  man  doubt  that  this  army,  ably 
handled,  was  sufficiently  strong  to  have  captured  Richmond  and  crushed 
the  rebel  army  ?  I  think  not,  if  promptly  led  against  the  enemy  ;  but  instead 
of  that,  it  sat  down  in  malarious  swamps  and  awaited  the  drafting,  aiming, 
drilling,  and  making  soldiers  of  an  army  to  fight  it,  and  in  the  meantime  our 
own  army  was  rapidly  wasting  away.  Unwholesome  water,  inadequate  food, 
over- work,  and  sleeping  in  marshes,  were  rapidly  filling  the  hospitals,  and 
overloading  the  return  boats  with  the  sick.  Sir,  we  have  lost  more  men  by 
the  spade  than  the  bullet,  five  to  one,  since  the  army  started  from  Yorklown 
under  McClellan.  Had  the  soldiers  been  relieved  from  digging  and  menial 
labor  by  the  substitution  of  negro  laborers,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  would 
to-day,  in  my  estimation,  contain  30,000  more  brave  and  efficient  soldiers  than 
it  does.  Had  it  been  relieved  from  guarding  the  property  of  rebels  in  arms, 
many  valuable  lives  would  have  been  saved.  Yorktown  was  evacuated  after  a 
sacrifice  of  more  men  by  sickness  than  the  enemy  had  in  their  works  when  our 
army  landed  at  Fortress  Monroe.  The  battle  of  Williamsburg  was  fought  by  a 
small  fraction  of  our  army,  and  the  enemy  routed.  During  the  battle,  General 
McClellan  wrote  a  dispatch,  miles  from  the  field  of  battle,  saying  he  should 
try  to  "hold  them  in  check"  there.  .  .  .  He  would  try  to  "hold  them  in 
check  ! "  He  could  not  hold  them.  He  could  not  stop  his  eager  troops  from 
chasing  them.  After  a  small  fraction  of  his  army  had  whipped  their  entire 
force  and  had  been  chasing  them  for  hours,  he  penned  that  dispatch  and  sent 
it  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and,  if  I  remember  aright,  it  was  read  in  one  of 
the  two  houses  of  Congress.  As  you  may  suppose  from  that  dispatch,  there 
was  no  great  eagerness  in  following  up  that  victory.  Three  Michigan  regi 
ments  were  not  only  decimated,  they  were  divided  in  twain,  in  that  bloody 
battle  at  Williamsburg.  They  fought  there  all  day  without  reinforcements. 
One  Michigan  regiment  went  into  the  trenches  and  left  sixty -three  dead 
rebels,  killed  by  the  bayonet,  weltering  in  their  blood.  But  who  has  ever 
heard,  by  any  official  communication  from  the  head  of  the  army,  that  a  Mich 
igan  regiment  was  in  the  fight  at  Williamsburg  ?  I  do  not  blame  him  for  not 
giving  credit  where  credit  is  due,  for  I  do  not  believe  he  knew  anything  more 
of  that  fight  than  you  or  I. 

When  that  battle  was  fought  and  won,  all  the  enemy's  works  were  cleared 
away,  and  we  had  an  open  road  to  Richmond.  There  was  not  a  single  forti 
fication  between  "Richmond  and  Williamsburg.  All  we  had  to  do  was  to  get 
through  those  infernal  swamps,  march  up,  and  take  possession  of  Richmond. 
What  did  we  do  ?  We  found  the  worst  swamp  there  was  between  Richmond 
and  Williamsburg,  and  sat  right  down  in  the  center  of  it  and  went  to  digging. 
We  sacrificed  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  the  bravest  troops  that  ever 


236  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER. 

stood  on  the  face  of  God's  earth,  digging  in  front  of  no  intrenchments,  and 
before  a  whipped  army  of  the  enemy.  We  waited  for  them  to  recruit  ;  we 
waited  for  them  to  get  another  army.  They  had  a  levy  en  masse.  They  were 
taking  all  the  men  and  boys  between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  fifty -five,  and 
magnanimously  we  waited  weeks  and  weeks  and  weeks  for  them  to  bring 
these  forced  levies  into  some  sort  of  consistency  as  an  army.  The  battle  of 
Fair  Oaks  was  fought.  There  the  enemy  found  again  a  little  fraction  of  our 
army,  very  much  less  than  half,  and  they  brought  out  their  entire  force.  I 
have  it  from  the  best  authority  that  they  had  not  a  solitary  regiment  in  or 
about  Richmond  that  was  fit  to  put  in  front  of  an  enemy  that  they  did  not 
bring  to  Fair  Oaks  and  hurl  upon  our  decimated  army.  Again  the  indomi 
table  bravery  of  our  troops  (of  the  men,  of  private  soldiers,  the  indomitable 
energy  of  Michigan  men  and  New  Jersey  men  —  but  I  will  not  particular 
ize,  for  all  the  troops  fought  like  lions),  and  the  fighting  capacity  of  our 
army  not  only  saved  it  from,  being  utterly  destroyed  by  an  overwhelming 
force,  but  gave  us  a  triumphant  victory.  The  enemy  went  back  to  Richmond 
pell-mell.  I  have  been  informed  by  a  man  who  was  there  at  the  time,  that 
two  brigades  of  fresh  troops  could  have  chased  the  whole  Confederate  army 
through  the  city  of  Richmond  and  into  the  James  river,  so  utter  was  their 
rout  and  confusion. 

And  what  did  we  do  then  ?  We  found  another  big  swamp,  and  we  sat 
down  in  the  center  of  it  and  went  to  digging,  We  began  to  throw  up 
intrenchments  when  there  were  no  intrenchments  in  our  front,  no  enemy  that 
was  not  utterly  broken.  We  never  took  advantage  of  the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks. 
Again  Michigan  soldiers  were  cut  to  pieces  by  hundreds.  Go  into  the  Judi 
ciary  square  hospital  in  this  city,  and  you  will  find  more  than  half  the  occu 
pants  are  Michigan  men  who  were  shot  at  Fair  Oaks  and  Williamsburg,  men 
who  stood  until  a  regiment  of  1,000  men  was  reduced  to  105,  and  even  then 
did  not  run.  Sir,  these  men  have  been  sacrificed,  uselessly  sacrificed.  They 
have  been  put  to  hard  digging,  and  hard  fare,  and  hard  sleeping,  and  if  there 
was  any  hard  fighting  to  do  they  have  been  put  to  that  ;  and,  besides  all 
this,  at  night  they  have  had  to  guard  the  property  of  rebels  in  arms.  They 
have  been  so  sacrificed  that  two  or  three  of  the  Michigan  regiments  to  -  day 
cannot  bring  into  the  field  250  men  each  out  of  1,000  with  whom  they  started. 

Fair  Oaks  was  lost  ;  that  is  to  say,  we  won  a  brilliant  victory,  but  it  did 
us  no  good  ;  we  did  not  take  advantage  of  it.  Of  course  it  would  have  been 
very  unfair  to  take  advantage  of  a  routed  army  [laughter]  ;  it  would  not 
have  been  according  to  our  : '  strategy. "  We  magnanimously  stopped,  and 
commenced  digging.  There  wras  no  army  in  our  front  ,  there  were  no 
intrenchments  in  our  front  ;  but  we  did  not  know  what  else  to  do,  and  so  we 
began  to  dig  and  ditch,  and  we  kept  digging  and  ditching  until  the  rebels  had 
impressed  and  drilled  and  armed  and  marie  soldiers  of  their  entire  population. 
But  that  was  not  enough  ;  they  sent  Jackson  up  on  his  raid  to  Winchester, 
and  we  waited  for  him  to  come  back  with  his  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  men. 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE.  237 

We  heard  that  Corinth  was  being  evacuated,  and  of  course  it  would  have 
been  very  unfair  to  commence  an  attack  until  they  brought  their  troops  from 
Corinth,  and  so  we  waited  for  the  army  at  Corinth  to  get  to  Richmond. 
After  the  rebels  had  got  all  the  troops  they  ever  hoped  to  raise  from  any 
source,  we  did  not  attack  them,  but  they  attacked  us,  as  we  had  reason  to 
suppose  they  would.  They  attacked  our  right  wing,  and,  as  I  am  informed 
upon  what  I  must  deem  reliable  authority,  they  hurled  the  majority  of  their 
entire  force  upon  our  right  wing  of  30,000  men,  and  during  the  whole  of  that 
Thursday  our  right  wing  of  30,000  men  held  their  ground,  and  repulsed  that 
vast  horde  of  the  enemy  over  and  over  again,  and  held  their  ground  at  night. 
Of  course  you  will  say  a  reinforcement  of  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  men  was 
sent  to  these  brave  troops  that  they  might  not  only  hold  their  ground  the 
next  day,  but  send  this  distardly  army  into  Richmond  a  second  time,  as  at 
Fair  Oaks.  No,  sir,  nothing  of  the  sort  was  done. 

At  night,  instead  of  sending  them  reinforcements,  they  were  ordered  to 
retreat,  That  was  "strategy  !"  The  moment  they  commenced  their  retreat,  as 
is  said  in  the  dispatches,  the  enemy  fought  like  demons.  Of  course  they 
would.  Who  ever  heard  of  a  retreating  army  that  was  not  pursued  by  the 
victors  like  demons,  except  in  the  case  of  rebel  retreats  ?  No  other  nation 
but  ours  was  ever  guilty  of  stopping  immediately  after  a  victory.  Other 
armies  fight  like  demons  after  a  victory,  and  annihilate  the  enemy,  but  we 
do  not.  Our  left  wing  and  center  remained  intact.  A  feint  was  made  upon 
the  left  and  center,  and  I  have  here,  not  the  sworn  testimony,  but  the  state 
ment  of  one  of  the  bravest  men  in  the  whole  Army  of  the  Potomac  —  I  will 
not  give  his  name,  but  a  more  highly  honorable  man  lives  not — that  whe;i 
his  regiment  was  ordered  under  arms,  he  had  no  doubt  that  he  was  going  to 
march  into  Richmond.  He  believed  the  whole  force  of  the  enemy  had 
attacked  our  right  wing ;  he  believed  there  was  nothing  but  a  screen  of 
pickets  in  front  ;  and  he  thought  that  now  our  great  triumph  was  to  come  off. 
His  men  sprang  into  line  with  avidity,  prepared  to  rush  into  Richmond  and 
take  it  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  He  never  discovered  his  error  until  he  saw 
a  million  and  a  half  dollars'  worth  of  property  burned  in  front  of  his  regi 
ment,  and  then  he  began  to  think  that  an  advance  upon  Richmond  was  not 
intended.  And  it  was  not  !  We  had  been  at  work  there  and  had  lost  10,000 
men  in  digging  intrenchments  ;  we  had  spent  months  in  bringing  up  siege 
guns,  and  we  abandoned  those  intrenchments  without  firing  one  gun.  Our 
army  was  ordered  to  advance  on  the  gunboats  instead  of  on  Richmond.  This 
colonel  told  me  that  his  regiment  fought  three  days  and  whipped  the  enemy 
each  day,  and  retreated  each  night.  The  left  wing  and  center  were  untouched 
until  they  were  ordered  to  retreat.  No  portion  of  our  vast  force  had  been 
fought  except  the  right  wing  under  Porter,  and  they  whipped  the  enemy  the 
first  day. 

This  is  called  strategy  !  Again,  sir,  I  ask,  Why  was  this  great  Army  of 
the  Potomac  of  230,000  men  divided  ?  Human  ingenuity  could  not  have 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

devised  any  other  way  to  defeat  that  army  ;  Divine  wisdom  could  scarcely 
have  devised  any  other  way  to  defeat  it  than  that  which  was  adopted.  There 
is  no  army  in  Europe  to  -  day  that  could  meet  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  when 
it  was  230,000  strong,  the  best  righting  material  ever  put  into  an  army 
on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Why  was  that  grand  army  divided  ?  I  simply 
charge  that  grave  and  serious  errors  have  been  committed,  and,  as  I  have  said, 
no  other  way  could  have  been  devised  to  defeat  that  army.  If  the  158,000 
men  that  were  sent  to  General  McCJellan  had  been  marched  upon  the  enemy, 
they  could  have  whipped  all  the  armies  the  Confederates  have,  and  all  they 
are  likely  to  have  for  six  months.  One  hundred  and  fifty -eight  thousand  men 
are  about  as  many  as  can  be  fought  on  any  one  battle  -  field.  One  hundred  and 
fifty -eight  thousand  men  are  a  vast  army,  a  great  deal  larger  army  than  that 
with  which  Napoleon  destroyed  600,000  of  the  Austrians  in  a  single  year. 
One  hundred  and  fifty -eight  thousand  men  ably  handled  can  defeat  any  force 
the  Confederates  can  raise  ;  and  that  is  the  force  that  went  down  to  the 
Peninsula.  But,  sir,  it  lay  in  ditches,  digging,  drinking  rotten  water,  and 
eating  bad  food,  and  sleeping  in  the  mud,  until  it  became  greatly  reduced  in 
numbers,  and  of  those  that  were  left  very  many  were  injured  in  health.  Still 
they  fought  ;  still  they  conquered  in  every  fight ,  and  still  they  retreated, 
because  they  were  ordered  to  retreat 

Sir,  I  have  deemed  it  my  duty  to  present  this  statement  of  facts  to  the 
Senate  and  the  country.  I  know  that  I  am  to  be  denounced  for  so  doing, 
and  I  tell  you  who  will  denounce  me.  There  are  two  classes  of  men  who 
are  sure  to  denounce  me,  and  no  one  else,  and  they  are  traitors  and  fools. 
The  traitors  have  been  denouncing  every  man  who  did  not  sing  pa?ans  to 
"strategy/'  when  it  led  to  defeat  every  time.  The  traitors  North  are  worse 
than  the  traitors  South,  and  sometimes  I  think  we  have  as  many  of  them  in 
the  aggregate.  They  arc  meaner  men  ,  they  are  men  who  will  come  behind 
you  and  cut  your  throat  in  the  dark.  I  have  great  respect  for  Southern 
traitors  who  shoulder  their  muskets  and  come  out  and  take  the  chances  of  the 
bullets  and  the  halter  ;  but  I  have  the  most  superlative  contempt  for  the 
Northern  traitors,  who,  under  the  pretended  guise  of  patriotism,  are  stabbing 
their  country  in  the  dark. 

The  effect  of  this  speech  was  profound.  It  enraged  McClel- 
lau's  friends  to  the  highest  pitch ;  it  was  not  supported  at  the 
time  by  any  like  utterance  in  Congress,  and  at  first  many  who 
believed  it  to  be  true  condemned,  or  at  least  deprecated,  the 
fierceness  of  the  attack ;  but  those  who  knew  that  "  the  youn*>' 
Napoleon"  at  heart  preferred  a  pro -slavery  compromise  to  tl.e 
conquest  of  a  durable  and  honorable  peace,  and  who  had  marked 
with  righteous  indignation  the  attempt  of  his  claquers  to  make 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE.  239 

the  Secretary  of  War  the  scape -goat  for  his  own  blunders, 
greeted  with  enthusiasm  the  signal  courage  of  the  man  who,  in 
the  face  of  abuse,  prejudice,  and  popular  blindness,  dared  to  tell 
with  words  of  rugged  force  this  story  of  disastrous  imbecility. 
Mr.  Chandler  disregarded  the  remonstrances  of  weak  friends,  and 
met  without  quailing  the  storm  of  vituperation  he  had  invited. 
Events  made  themselves  his  justitiers  and  within  four  months* 
President  Lincoln,  with  the  full  approval  of  the  patriotic  masses 
of  the  North,  relieved  General  McClellan  from  all  command  and 
abruptly  terminated  his  military  career.  Nothing  contributed 
more  to  this  salutary  change  than  Mr.  Chandler's  arraignment,  of 
which  it  has  been  well  said,  that  "  with  words  resembling  battles 
"  he  told  the  American  people  that  they  were  leaning  upon  a 
"broken  reed,  that  'the  idol  of  the  soldiers'  was  as  incapable  of 
"  helping  them  as  the  idols  of  the  heathen,  and  that  McClellan 
"  was  only  digging  graves  for  the  brave  men  who  followed  him 
"  and  a  last  ditch  for  the  cause  he  defended ;  he  shocked  by  his 
"  language  the  mass  of  the  people  into  a  right  comprehension  of 
"the  death's  dance  this  military  Jack  -  o1- lantern  was  leading 
"  them  through  the  swamps  of  Virginia/' 

Mr.  Chandler,  who  took  this  step  after  full  deliberation  and 
not  from  any  passing  impulse,  rated  the  McClellan  speech  as 
his  most  important  public  service,  alike  in  its  necessity,  its  time 
liness,  and  its  results.  He  also  felt  that  it  involved  more  real 
hazard,  and  made  larger  demands  upon'  his  courage,  than  any 
other  act  of  his  Senatorial  career,  for  such  relentless  invective 
could  scarcely  fail  to  mortally  wound  either  its  object  or  its 
maker.  Had  time  shown  that  he  had  uttered  calumnies  and  not 
the  sober  truth,  he  would  have  been  inevitably  driven  from 
public  life;  and  even  when  he  spoke,  the  men  who  thoroughly 
doubted  McClellan  were  still  a  small  minority.  History  has 

*  Oa  Nov.  7,  1862. 


240  ZACIIARIAH    CHANDLER. 

shown   that   his    indictment   was  as   true  in    substance   as   it  was 
unsparing  in  terms  and  bold  in  spirit. 

Two    other    matters    naturally    group    themselves    with    this 
speech :     Mr.  Chandler   distrusted  McClellanism  in   the  Army   of 
the  Potomac  as  thoroughly  as  he  did  McClellan.     The  investiga 
tions    of    this    committee    convinced    him    that    General    Pope's 
campaign  was  so  unfortunate   because  of   the   insubordination   of 
General    McClellan's    friends    among   the   corps    commanders,   and 
led  him   to  believe   that  the  same  cause  crippled  the  movements 
of  both  Burnside  and  Hooker,  who,  if  faithfully  supported,  would 
have  won  decisive  victories.      So  strong  were   his    convictions  on 
these  points,   that   when    General    Grant    became    commander  -  in- 
chief  he  called  upon  the  Secretary  of  War  and  requested  him  to 
make  out  a  list  of  the  incompetent,  suspected  and  insubordinate 
generals   of   the  Army  of   the  Potomac,  to   be  furnished  to  that 
officer  so  that  he  w^ould  be  able  to  place  them  where  they  could 
do  the  least  harm  in  the  service.     This   Secretary  Stanton  prom 
ised  to  do.     A  few  days  afterward   Mr.  Chandler  called  again  at 
the  War    Department,  and,  learning    that    this  had  not    yet  been 
done,    said,    "  I   will   make   out   the   list   myself   and   send    it    to 
Grant;"    and  he   did  so,   Major -Gen.  C.  C.  Washburn  being  its 
bearer.      Mr.   Chandler    carefully  studied    and  vigilantly  watched 
the  Fitz  -  John  Porter  case,  and  approved  of  the  findings  of    the 
court -martial,   except    the    failure    to    inflict    the    death    penalty, 
which  he  believed  that  the  character  and  consequences  of  Porter's 
action  fully  merited.     The  attempt  to  secure  the  reversal  of  this 
verdict  and  the  re-instatement  in  the  army  of  the  dismissed  officer 
aroused    his    sternest    indignation,  and    he  fought    it  resolutely  at 
every  stage  —  and  successfully,  while  he  remained  in  the  Senate. 
He  spoke   at   length  on   this   subject   in  that   body  on    Feb.  21, 
1870,    declaring    that    he    did    so    in    fulfillment    of    a   voluntary 
pledge  given  some  years  before  in  the  same  chamber  to  Generai 
Pope,  "  that   justice  should  be  done  to  him  and  to  his  campaign 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE.  241 

"  in  the  valley  of  Virginia,  even  although  I  were  called  upon  to 
"vindicate  him  from  my  seat  in  the  Senate."  After  rehearsing 
the  facts  connected  with  Pope's  movement,  which  was  planned  to 
create  a  diversion  of  Lee's  army  for  the  extrication  of  McClel- 
lan's  forces  from  the  Peninsula,  in  conformity  with  the  suggestion 
of  Gen.  James  S.  Wadsworth,  and  showing  that  Pope  had  'fre 
quently  requested  to  be  relieved  from  the  hazardous  work  laid 
out  for  him  and  that  he  had  only  a  force  of  42,000  men  scat 
tered  between  Harper's  Ferry  and  Acquia  Creek,  Mr.  Chandler 
said : 

I  asked  him  in  the  presence  of  the  committee:  "What  is  to  prevent  you 
from  being  struck  by  a  superior  force  of  the  enemy  and  overwhelmed?"  Said 
he:  "Nothing  on  earth  is  more  probable  than  that  I  shall  be  struck  by  a 
"superior  force  and  shall  be  whipped,  but  I  will  keep  my  troops  near  the 
"mountains,  and  there  are  no  ten  miles  where  there  is  not  a  gulch  up  which 
"I  can  take  my  men  and  small -arms,  and,  by  abandoning  my  artillery  and 
"baggage,  save  my  men;  I  shall  probably  be  whipped,  but  it  must  be  done." 
Any  military  man  can  see  and  appreciate  the  difficulties  and  responsibilities  of 
so  desperate  a  campaign.  "Yet,"  said  he,  "it  must  be  done." 

Well,  sir,  General  Pope  started  on  that  campaign.  Had  he  announced  to 
the  newspaper  press  of  Washington,  or  of  the  North,  the  number  of  his  men 
or  his  object,  the  object  itself  woull  have  been  defeated.  General  Pope  did 
what  I  believe  is  allowable  in  war:  he  perpetrated  a  ruse  de  guerre.  He  sent 
his  scouts  all  through  the  mountains  of  Virginia  proclaiming  that  he  had  an 
army  of  120,003  mem.  And,  sir,  he  fooled  the  newspaper  correspondents  of 
the  city  of  Washington  and  of  the  whole  North.  General  Pope,  when  he 
started  on  that  campaign,  had  no  more  idea  of  going  to  Richmond  than  he 
had  of  following  Elijah  to  Heaven  in  a  chariot  of  fire  without  seeing  death. 
He  started  with  one  single  object,  and  that  was  to  save  the  army  of  McClel- 
lan,  or  to  do  all  that  was  in  his  power  to  save  it.  He  massed  his  troops,  and 
that  terrible  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain  was  fought;  and  by  that  battle  he  not 
only  fooled  the  people  of  this  country,  but  he  fooled  the  rebels.  The  rebels 
believed  that  he  had  120,000  men,  and  that,  unless  they  fought  him  and 
crushed  him  before  he  could  unite  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  their  cause 
was  lest ;  and  he  drew  upon  his  shoulders  with  that  little  force  the  whole 
rebel  army,  so  that,  when  McClellan  started  for  Yorktown,  there  was  not 
even  a  popgun  fired  at  his  troops.  The  ruse  was  a  perfect  success,  and,  as  I 
told  General  Pope  then,  "I  consider  that  your  campaign  has  been  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  that  has  been  fought  up  to  this  lime"  —  which  was  February, 
1803 — "you  saved  two  armies.;  you  first  saved  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and 
then  you  saved  your  own." 
16 


2±'2  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Sir,  General  Pope  fought  for  eleven  days,  fought  night  and  day,  fought 
the  whole  rebel  army  with  his  little  force,  his  force  never  having  exceeded 
70,000  men,— comprising  not  simply  his  own  army,  but  also  General  Burn- 
side's  forces,  and  the  20,000  men  who  had  in  thirty  days  been  brought  up 
from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  of  whom  Porter's  corps  was  part.  The 
force  which  he  had  met  with  these  was  that  originally  in  his  front,  but  over 
whelmingly  augmented  by  that  rebel  force  from  which  McClellan,  with  his 
90,000  men,  had  to  be  delivered  by  a  demonstration  in  their  rear.  He 
fought  for  time.  He  defended  every  brook,  every  barn,  every  piece  of  woods, 
every  ravine.  He  fought  for  time  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to  reach  him 
and  unite  with  him,  so  as  to  crush  the  advancing  and  overwhelming  force  of 
the  rebels. 

Mr.  Chandler  then  reviewed  at  length  (and  with  copious 
citations  from  the  testimony  of  eye  -  witnesses  and  the  official 
orders)  the  facts  as  to  Fitz-John  Porters  course  in  Pope's  cam 
paign,  adding  extracts  from  the  reports  of  rebel  officers  which 
had  come  into  the  possession  of  the  government  since  the  war, 
and  closed  as  follows : 

Mr.  President,  if  I  had  more  time  I  should  like  to  go  more  fully  into 
this  subject ;  but  I  cannot.  The  court,  after  forty  -  five  days  spent  in  careful 
investigation,  brought  in  unanimously  the  verdict  against  Porter.  Many  of 
the  members  of  that  court  were  in  favor  of  sentencing  him  to  suffer  death. 
It  is  rumored,  and  many  believe,  that  the  only  reason  the  death  -  penalty  was 
not  inflicted  was  the  fear  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  whose  kindness  of  heart  was  so 
well  -  known,  would  not  execute  the  sentence  ;  and,  hence,  they  unanimously 
brought  in  the  verdict  they  did.  It  was  first  carefully  examined  seriatim  by 
the  then  Secretary  of  War  and  the  President.  No  more  just  tribunal  ever 
investigated  a  case,  I  presume  to  assert,  than  this  tribunal,  and  there  its  find 
ing  stands. 

It  may  be  asked,  How  came  it  that  a  misunderstanding,  almost  as  uni 
versal  as  complete,  was  suffered  to  be  put  upon  the  country  ?  General  Pope 
himself  says:  "The  next  day  it  (my  report)  was  delivered  to  General  Hal- 
"leck;  but  by  that  time  influences  of  questionable  character,  and  transactions 
"of  most  unquestionable  impropriety,  Avhich  were  well  known  at  the  time, 
"had  entirely  changed  the  purposes  of  the  authorities.  It  is  not  necessary, 
"and,  perhaps,  would  scarcely  be  in  place,  for  me  to  recount  these  things." 

It  is  as  well  known  to  others  present  as  to  me  that,  during  that  gloomj", 
eventful  Sunday  which  succeeded  the  last  battle  on  Saturday,  the  30th  of 
August,  the  President  and  Mr.  Stanton  were  overrun  and  overcome  with 
statements  that,  unless  McClellan  was  restored  to  command  "the  army  would 
not  fight."  These  statements  came  from  men  who  did  not  mean  it  should 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE.  213 

fight,  who  could  not  in  the  exigency  of  the  moment  be  displaced.  The  Presi 
dent  was  able  afterward  to  relieve  McClellan  and  court-martial  Porter.  Had 
he  lived,  he  would  have  seen  justice  to  General  Pope  awarded  also.  It 
remains  for  me,  while  I  live,  to  do  my  portion  of  that  duty. 

There  is  one  other  point  to  which  I  wish  to  allude.  During  this  very  trial 
—during  the  very  pendency  of  the  trial  —  Fitz-  John  Porter  said,  in  the  presence 
of  my  informant,  who  is  a  man  whom  most  of  you  know,  and  who  is  to-clay 
in  the  employment  of  Congress,  and  whose  word  I  would  take  as  soon  as  I 
would  most  men's  —  though  I  told  him  I  would  not  use  his  name,  but  I  will 
give  his  sworn  testimony,  taken  down  within  two  minutes  after  the  utterance 
was  made  —  Fitz -John  Porter  said  in  his  presence  :  "I  was  not  true  to  Pope, 
and  there  is  no  use  in  denying  it."  Mr.  President,  what  was  "not  true  to 
Pope "  ?  If  he  was  not  true  to  Pope,  whom  was  he  true  to  ?  Being  true  to 
Pope  was  being  true  to  the  country  ;  "not  true  to  Pope"  was  being  a  traitor 
to  the  country.  Sir,  "not  true  to  Pope"  meant  the  terrible  fight  of  the  30th 
of  August,  with  all  the  blood  and  all  the  horrors  of  that  bitter  day;  "not 
true  to  Pope "  meant  the  battle  of  Antietam,  with  its  thousands  of  slain  and 
its  other  thousands  maimed:  "not  true  to  Pope"  meant  the  first  battle  of 
Fredericksburg,  with  its  20,000  slain  and  maimed;  "not  true  to  Pope"  cov 
ered  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness  and  Cold  Harbor,  and  all  the  dreadful 
battles  that  followed.  Had  Fitz -John  Porter  been  true  to  his  government, 
Jackson  would  have  been  destroyed  on  the  29th  of  August,  and  on  the  30th 
the  rebels  could  scarcely  have  offered  any  resistance  to  our  victorious  army. 
"Not  true  to  Pope"  meant  300,000  slain  and  2,000,000,000  of  additional  dol 
lars  expended. 

Sir,  I  wish  to  put  this  on  the  record  for  all  time,  that  it  may  remain. 
Let  Fitz- John  Porter  thank  God  that  he  yet  lives,  and  that  he  was  not  living 
at  that  time  under  a  military  government.  I  told  General  Pope,  in  the  first 
interview  I  had  with  him,  that  I  had  but  one  fault  to  find  in  the  whole  con 
duct  of  the  campaign.  He  asked,  "What  is  that?"  Said  I,  "That  you  ever 
allowed  Fitz -John  Porter  to  leave  the  battle-field  alive  !  " 

In  1877  Porter  at  last  succeeded,  by  the  most  persistent 
effort,  in  obtaining  the  order  for  the  re  -  examination  of  his  case, 
and  when  Mr.  Chandler  re-entered  the  Senate  in  1879,  he  found 
himself  confronting  an  organized  movement  to  secure  that  officer's 
restoration  to  his  old  rank  with  full  pay  since  the  date  of  his 
dishonorable  dismissal  from  the  army.  To  this  contemplated 
action  he  proposed  to  offer  the  most  strenuous  resistance,  and  the 
last  volumes  he  drew  from  the  Congressional  Library  were 
authorities  he  wished  to  consult  in  the  preparation  of  his  argu 
ment  against  the  reversal  of  the  Porter  finding. 


244:  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Mr.  Chandler's  positive  opinions  in  the  McClellan  and  Porter 
cases  were  shared  by  his  colleagues  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Conduct  of  the  War  of  the  Thirty  -  seventh  Congress,  and  are 
justified  by  their  elaborate  reports  covering  the  history  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  from  the  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff  to  the 
close  of  the  Fredericksburg  campaign.  The  Thirty  -  eighth  Senate 
adopted  a  resolution  continuing  the  existence  of  this  committee, 
and,  the  House  concurring,  the  old  members,  so  far  as  they 
were  in  Congress,  were  re  -  appointed.  Senator  Harding  of  Ore 
gon  took  the  place  of  Mr.  Wright,  and  afterward  Mr.  Buckalew 
of  Pennsylvania  succeeded  Mr.  Harding.  From  the  House,  Mr. 
B.  F.  Loan  of  Missouri  wras  appointed  as  the  successor  of  Mr. 
Covode.  Wm.  Blair  Lord  was  re-elected  clerk  and  stenographer. 
This  committee  also  devoted  much  of  its  time  to  the  troubles 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  General  Burnside  had  resigned 
the  command  because  of  a  misunderstanding  with  the  President, 
brought  about  by  the  interference  of  Gens.  John  Cochrane 
and  John  Newton,  and  General  Hooker  was  appointed  in  his 
place,  with  General  Halleck  as  commander -in -chief  But  Hal- 
leck  disliked  Hooker,  and  forced  his  resignation  by  overruling 
his  plans  and  countermanding  his  orders,  General  Meade  suc 
ceeding.  The  committee  examined  closely  into  this  matter, 
reaching  the  conclusion  that  Hooker  had  not  been  fairly  dealt 
with,  and  incidentally  disposing  of  the  false  statement  then  cur 
rent  that  that  officer  was  intoxicated  at  the  battle  of  Chancellors- 
ville,  and  was  defeated  from  that  cause.  The  committee  con 
demned  Hooker's  removal,  and  Mr.  Chandler  firmly  believed  in 
his  courage,  patriotism  and  ability,  and  regarded  him  as  the 
victim  of  circumstances.  These  facts  make  it  an  interesting 
coincidence  that  these  two  men  —  both  bold,  frank  arid  positive 
in  their  respective  spheres  of  public  activity  —  should  have  died 
sudden  and  painless  deaths  within  the  same  week. 

The  committee  did  not  believe  that  the  selection  of  General 
Meade  for  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  a 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE.  245 

fortunate  one,  and  doubted  his  ability  to  properly  control  his 
subordinates.  While  there  is  no  reference  to  the  matter  in  their 
report  on  this  subject,  it  is  a  fact  that  they  recommended  the 
removal  of  General  Meade  from  command,  and  the  re-instate- 
ment  of  Hooker.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1864,  Mr.  Chandler 
and  Mr.  Wade  called  upon  the  President,  and  told  him  that  they 
believed  it  to  be  their  duty,  impressed  as  they  were  with  the 
testimony  the  committee  had  taken,  to  lay  a  copy  of  it  before 
him,  and  in  behalf  of  the  army  and  the  country  demand  the 
removal  of  General  Meade,  and  the  appointment  of  some  one 
more  competent  to  command.  The  President  asked  what  general 
they  could  recommend ;  they  said  that  for  themselves  they  would 
be  content  with  General  Hooker,  believing  him  to  be  competent, 
but  not  being  advocates  of  any  particular  officer,  they  would  say 
that  if  there  was  any  one  whom  the  President  considered  more 
competent,  then  let  him  be  appointed.  They  added  that  "  Con- 
"  gress  had  appointed  the  committee  to  watch  the  conduct  of 
"  the  war ;  and  unless  this  state  of  things  should  be  soon  changed 
"  it  would  become  their  duty  to  make  the  testimony  public 
"  which  they  had  taken,  with  such  comments  as  the  circum- 
"  stances  of  the  case  seemed  to  require."  General  Meade  was 
not  removed,  but  General  Grant  was,  within  a  week,  given  com 
mand  as  general  -  in  -  chief ,  and  assumed  personal  direction  of 
the  movements  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

During  1864    and    1865    the    committee    (besides    considering 
many  minor  matters )  also  investigated,  with  care : 

1.  The  disastrous  assault  upon  Petersburg  on  July  30,  1864 ; 
their  report  exonerated  General  Burnside  from  the  responsibility 
for   the    repulse,  and    held   that   the   disaster  was   attributable  to 
the  interference  with  his  plans  of  General  Meade,  whose  course 
in  the  matter  was  severely  censured. 

2.  The  unsuccessful  expedition  of  1864  up  the  Eed  river  in 
Louisiana,  which  the  coimjiittee  (Mr.  Gooch  dissenting)  emphatic 
ally  condemned. 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

3.  The  first  Fort  Fisher  expedition,  the  committee,  in  its 
report,  approving  of  General  Butler's  course  in  withdrawing  from 
the  projected  assault. 

During  the  inquiry  into  the  Petersburg  fiasco,  the  sub -com 
mittee  were  in  session  at  General  Grant's  headquarters,  and 
Mr.  Chandler  was  his  guest,  renewing  there  an  early  acquaintance 
and  laying  the  foundations  of  their  future  close  friendship. 
Some  incidents  of  their  intercourse  were  characteristic. 

General  Sherman  had  just  reached  Savannah,  arid  the  mystery 
of  the  objective  point  of  his  great  "  march  to  the  sea "  had  thus 
been  solved  for  the  public.  This  memorable  exploit  was  dis 
cussed  at  length  between  General  Grant  and  Mr.  Chandler.  The 
former  said  that  the  suggestion  was  Sherman's,  and  so  was  the 
entire  plan  of  the  campaign.  Sherman  had  urged  it  for  a  long 
time  before  he  (Grant)  would  consent,  but  finally  the  conditions 
were  ripe,  and  the  order  was  given.  General  Grant  added  that 
Sherman  was  the  only  man  in  the  army  whom  he  would  have 
entrusted  this  campaign  to,  as  he  was  especially  adapted  for 
such  a  command,  and  said :  "  Congress  ought  to  do  something 
"  for  Sherman.  He  deserves  a  great  doiil  more  credit  and  honor 
"  than  he  has  ever  received."  "  What  can  we  do  for  him  ? " 
asked  Mr.  Chandler.  "Increase  his  rank,"  was  the  reply.  ""We 
have  made  you  lieutenant  general,"  responded  Mr.  Chandler, 
laughingly,  "  and  I  suppose  we  could  make  him  a  general,  and 
thus  put  him  over  you."  "  Do  it,"  said  Grant,  promptly.  "  If 
"  he  carries  this  campaign  through  successfully,  do  it.  I  would 
"  rather  serve  under  Sherman  than  any  man  I  know."  General 
Grant  also  said  that  when  he  received  a  dispatch  that  Thomas 
had  attacked  Hood,  ho  felt  that  a.  great  victory  was  already 
won.  lie  addod :  "  I  did  not  have  any  anxiety  about  the 
"  result ;  when  Thomas  attacks,  a  victory  is  sure.  He  is  a  slow 
"  man,  but  he  is  the  surest  man  I  know.  Once  in  motion,  he 
"  is  the  hardest  man  to  fight  in  this  army.  He  never  precipi- 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE.  247 

"  tates  a  battle  unless  lie  is  all  ready,  and  knows  his  points,  and 
"  you  may  rest  easy  when  he  attacks,  for  the  next  news  will 
"  be  the  enemy's  rout.  When  Thomas  once  gets  in  motion  the 
"  rebels  have  not  force  enough  to  stop  him." 

Upon  the  final  adjournment  of  the  Thirty  -  eighth  Congress 
(on  March  4,  1805)  it  continued  the  existence  of  the  Committee 
on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  for  ninety  days,  in  order  to  afford 
it  time  to  finish  its  work.  During  this  period  it  closed  up  some 
pending  inquiries  and  prepared  its  final  reports.  Its  last  action 
was  an  examination  into  General  Sherman's  unauthorized  and 
unfortunate  negotiations  with  General  Johnston,  which  the  com 
mittee  disapproved  and  that  officer's  superiors  promptly  repu 
diated.  The  final  report  of  the  committee  bears  the  date  of  the 
22d  of  May,  1805,  and  its  closing  passages  are  as  follows  : 

Your  committee,  at  the  close  of  the  labors  in  which  the  most  of  them 
have  been  engaged  for  nearly  four  years  past,  take  occasion  to  submit  a  few 
general  observations  in  regard  to  their  investigations.  They  commenced  them 
at  a  time  when  the  government  was  still  engaged  in  organizing  its  first  great 
armies,  and  before  any  important  victory  had  given  token  of  its  ability  to 
crush  out  the  rebellion  by  the  strong  hand  of  physical  power.  They  have 
continued  them  until  the  rebellion  has  been  overthrown,  the  so  -  called  Con 
federate  government  been  made  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  the  chief  of  that 
treasonable  organization  is  a  proclaimed  felon  in  the  hands  of  our  authorities. 
And  soon  the  military  and  naval  forces,  whose  deeds  have  been  the  subjects 
of  our  inquiry,  will  return  to  the  ways  of  peace  and  the  pursuits  of  civil  life, 
from  which'  they  have  been  called  for  a  time  by  the  danger  which  threatened 
their  country.  Yet  while  we  welcome  those  brave  veterans  on  their  return 
from  fields  made  historical  by  their  gallant  achievements,  our  joy  is  saddened 
as  we  view  their  thinned  ranks  and  reflect  that  tens  of  thousands,  as  brave  as 
they,  have  fallen  victims  to  that  savage  and  infernal  spirit  which  actuated 
those  who  spared  not  the  prisoners  at  their  mercy,  who  sought  by  midnight 
arson  to  destroy  hundreds  of  defenseless  women  and  children,  and  who  hesi 
tated  not  to  resort  to  means  and  to  commit  acts  so  horrible  that  the  nations 
of  the  earth  stand  aghast  as  they  are  told  what  has  been  done.  It  is  a  matter 
for  congratulation  that,  notwithstanding  the  greatest  provocations  to  pursue  a 
different  course,  our  authorities  have  ever  treated  their  prisoners  humanely 
and  generously,  and  have  in  all  respects  conducted  this  contest  according  to 
the  rules  of  the  most  civilized  warfare. 


24:8  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Your  committee  would  refer  to  the  record  of  their  labors  to  show  the 
spirit  and  purpose  by  which  they  have  been  governed  in  their  investigations. 
They  have  not  sought  to  accomplish  any  purpose  othCr  than  to  elicit  the  truth  ; 
to  that  end  have  all  their  labors  been  directed.  If  they  have  failed  at  any  time 
to  accomplish  that  purpose,  it  has  been  from  causes  beyond  their  control. 
Their  work  is  before  the  people,  and  by  it  they  are  willing  to  be  judged. 

The  volumes  winch  contain  the  official  record  of  the  proceed- 
in^  of  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  are  and 

o 

always  must  be  regarded  as  the  most  valuable  single  magazine 
of  historical  material  relating  to  the  Great  .Rebellion.  They  have 
been  liberally  used  in  the  preparation  of  every  important  account 
of  our  civil  strife  yet  published,  and  the  men,  who  shall  in  the 
light  of  another  century  estimate  the  greatness  and  significance 
of  that  "throe  of  progress,"  will  inevitably  look  in  their  pages 
to  the  graphic  narratives  of  those  who  were  parts  of  memorable 
movements  and  actors  in  famous  battles  as  a  means  of  informa 
tion,  and  to  the  conclusions  of  those  who  prosecuted  inquiries  so 
zealously  when  the  events  were  yet  fresh  in  the  memory  as  a 
source  of  guidance.  Infallibility  is  not  a  human  attribute,  and  the 
work  of  this  committee  was  not  free  from  misapprehension  and 
mistake.  Time,  which  has  shown  some  of  its  errors  and  will 
correct  others,  has  also  sustained  the  essential  justice  of  its 
most  important  conclusions,  which  will  stand  unreversed  on  the 
pages  of  impartial  history. 

But  the  chief  value  of  the  labors  of  this  committee  is  not 
to  be  found  in  its  collection  of  rich  materials  for  the  future 
chronicler.  To  its  unrecorded  but  potent  influence  upon  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  adequate  justice  has  not  yet  been  done.  Its 
unwearied  investigations  constantly  exposed  corruption,  incom 
petence,  and  insubordination,  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
authorities  the  means  of  discovering  and  punishing  the  knavish, 
the  weak,  and  the  disloyal.  Its  activity  was  a  perpetual  prompter 
to  energy,  and  a  vigilant  detective  by  the  side  of  inefficiency 
and  disaffection.  As  the  result  of  its  labors,  the  unsuccessful, 


THE    WAR    COMMITTEE. 

the  half-hearted,  and  the  traitorous  gave  way  to  the  able  and 
the  patriotic ;  because  of  the  knowledge  of  its  relentless  ques 
tioning,  indolent  men  were  vigilant,  and  laxity  was  transformed 
into  vigor.  Its  unremitting  labors  stayed  up  the  hands  of  the 
War  Secretary  in  the  heaviest  hours  of  his  great  task,  and  use 
fully  informed  the  counsels  and  shaped  the  decisions  of  the 
White  House.  If  its  every  session  had  been  permanently  secret, 
and  not  a  line  of  its  proceedings  existed  as  a  public  record, 
there  would  still  remain  an  ineffaceable  transcript  of  the  results 
of  its  action  in  the  correcting  of  mistakes  of  organization  and 
that  crushing  of  sham  generalship  which  alone  made  final  victory 
possible. 


CHAPTER    XIY. 


THE  VIGOROUS  PROSECUTION  OF  THE  WAR. 


^CONSCRIPTION,    taxation,  and    the  reverses  of   the 
^'   Union    arms    in    the    summer    of    1862   in    Virginia    and 


elsewhere  materially  affected  the  political  currents  of 
the  ensuing  fall,  and  the  tide  of  re  -  action  against  the 
war  feeling  reached  its  highest  flood  in  the  closing  elections  of 
that  year.  Horatio  Seymour  was  then  chosen  Governor  of  'New 
York  ;  the  States  of  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana 
and  Illinois  gave  anti  -  Republican  majorities,  and  ten  of  the 
principal  Northern  States,  which  in  1860  rolled  up  over  200,000 
Republican  majority,  gave  over  35,000  to  the  Opposition,  while 
the  footings  of  their  Congressional  delegations  showed  a  Demo- 
•cratic  majority  of  ten  replacing  a  Republican  preponderance  of 
forty  -one.  In  Michigan  a  successful  effort  was  made  to  fuse  all 
the  "conservative"  elements  in  a  so-called  "Union  movement," 
which  obtained  some  support  from  lukewarm  Republicans  and 
was  thus  enabled  to  manifest  unusual  strength.  Its  platform  was 
dissent  from  "  radical  "  measures  in  general,  and  the  force  of  its 
attacks  was  centered  upon  Senator  Chandler  and  his  record,  as 
representing  the  most  aggressive  type  of  Republicanism.  He 
accepted  this  challenge  unhesitatingly,  and  fought  the  campaign 
through  without  a  hint  at  retraction  or  an  apologetic  word.  He 
defended  the  "blood  letter"  and  the  "McClellan  speech"  on 
every  stump  ;  he  repeated  before  the  people  the  bold  utterances 
with  which  he  had  stirred  the  Senate;  he  declared  to  every 
audience  that  his  record  he  would  not  qualify  by  a  hair's 
breadth,  and  that  by  it  he  was  prepared  to  stand  or  fall  ;  and  he 


"THE    WAR    SENATOR"  251 

denounced  with  unstinted  severity  the  weakness  of  some  of  his 
critics  and  the  disloyalty  of  others.*  The  brunt  of  the  battle  in 
his  State  fell  upon  him,  and  the  vigor  and  courage  of  his  per 
sonal  canvass  attracted  widespread  attention.  He  spoke  in  all 
the  leading  cities  of  Michigan  during  the  campaign,  and  worked 
uninterruptedly  until  the  day  of  election  The  result  was,  the 
casting  of  68,710  votes  for  the  Republican  State  ticket  to  62,102 
for  the  u  Union"  candidates,  and  the  choice  of  five  Republicans 
out  of  the  six  members  of  Congress,  and  of  a  Legislature  con 
stituted  as  follows:  Senate — -18  Republicans  and  14  Fusionists  ; 
House — 63  Republicans  and  37  Fusionists.  This  Legislature,  on 
assembling  in  January,  18G3,  re-elected  Mr.  Chandler  to  the 
Senate  in  accordance  with  the  unmistakable  wish  of  his  party 
and  the  universal  expectation.  The  most  strenuous  efforts  were 
made  to  detach  Republican  support  from  him,  but  they  failed 
utterly.  In  the  caucus  the  vote  was  taken  viva  voce,  and  it  was 
unanimous  for  Mr.  Chandler.  In  the  Legislature  he  received  the 

O 

support  of  the  representatives  of  his  party  as  w^ell  as  that  of 
one  or  two  members  chosen  by  the  Fusionists.  The  Opposition 
selected  a  candidate  of  Republican  antecedents,  and  its  vote  was 
divided  as  follows :  James  F.  Joy,  45 ;  Alpheus  Felch,  2 ;  Heze- 
kiah  Gr.  Wells,  1 ;  Solomon  L.  "Withey,  1.  In  his  address  of 
thanks  before  the  nominating  caucus,  Mr.  Chandler  said :  u  I  do 
"  not  claim  my  re  -  election  as  a  personal  tribute.  It  is,  rather,  a 
"  tribute  to  principle.  It  indicates  that  the  patriotic  sons  of 
"  Michigan  stand  firm  in  support  of  the  government  and  a  vigor- 
"  ous  prosecution  of  the  war." 

*  I  pity  the  man  who,  in  this  hour  of  peril,  stands  back  and  says,  "this  is  an  abolition 
•war,  and  I  won't  go."  .  .  .  There  are  but  two  classes  of  men  now  in  the  United  States, 
and.  there  are  no  middle  men  ;  these  two  classes  are  patriots  and  traitors.  Between  these 
two  yor  must  choose.  A  man  might  as  well  cast  himself  into  the  gulf  that  separated 
Dives  from  Lazarus  as  to  stand  out  in  this  hour  of  trial.— Speech  at  Ionia  on  September  6. 

It  has  taken  time  to  educate  us.  If  we  had  won  certain  victories  the  war  would  have 
been  over,  but  the  cause  would  have  remained.  The  proclamation  pronouncing  emancipa 
tion,  for  which  God  bless  Abraham  Lincoln,  is  educating  the  people,  and  soon  we  will  be 
ready  to  go  forward.  .  .  .  We  can  never  secure  a  permanent  peace  until  we  strike  a 
death-blow  at  the  cause  of  the  war.— Speech  at  Jackson  on  October  7. 


252  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Not  only  did  he  thus  modestly  measure  the  significance  of 
his  re-election,  but  he  bent  every  energy  to  make  that  felt 
which  the  people  meant.  Stafford's  motto  of  "  Thorough " 
although  the  spirit  was  that  of  Hampden  and  Pym  and  not  of 
the  apostate  Earl  —  expresses  the  fixity  of  purpose  and  the  ardor 
of  zeal  with  which  he  strove  to  make  irresistible  the  blows  of  the 
Union  against  its  assailants.  Before  the  people,  on  the  floor  of 
the  Senate,  within  the  White  House,  at  the  private  offices  of 
the  War  Department,  in  committee  -  room,  and  as  part  of  his 
daily  intercourse  with  men  of  all  ranks  and  classes,  he  urged  the 
use  of  every  resource  for  the  defense  of  the  nation  and  demanded 
the  sternest  punishment  of  those  who  had  dared 

"to  lay  their  hand  upon  the  ark 
"Of  her  magnificent  and  awful  cause." 

As  a  Senator  his  vote  was  recorded  for  every  important  war 
measure,  relating  to  the  revenues,  the  finances,  and  the  armies 
of  the  Union.  Upon  the  great  questions  of  public  policy  which 
bore  so  powerfully  on  the  progress  of  the  struggle  he  uniformly 
led  his  party.  At  the  first  Congressional  session  of  the  war  he 
urged  the  employment  of  confiscation  as  a  legitimate  and  effective 
weapon  for  checking  and  punishing  rebellion ;  the  measure  he 
introduced  at  that  time  proved  to  be  too  sweeping  to  receive 
an  immediate  enactment,  but  within  a  few  months  Congress  did 
advance  on  this  subject  to  his  ground.  When  General  Butler 
declared  that  the  slaves  who  fled  to  his  camp  from  work  upon 
the  rebel  intrenchments  were  "  contraband  of  war,"  and  reported 
his  action  to  the  authorities  at  Washington  and  asked  for  instruc 
tions,  Mr,  Chandler  was  one  of  the  first  to  appreciate  the  adroit 
wisdom  of  that  epigrammatic  construction  of  military  law,  and 
his  co-operation  with  Secretary  Cameron  in  urging  the  approval 
of  General  Butler's  action  upon  the  President  and  General  Scott 
was  very  valuable  and  effective.  Immediately  after  the  battle  of 


"THE   )VAR    SENATOR."  253 

Bull  Run  he,  with  Mr.  Simmer  and  Mr.  Hamlin,  called  upon 
Mr.  Lincoln  with  a  proposition  to  organize  and  arm  the  colored 
people.  Mr.  Chandler  even  then  favored  the  full  exercise  of  the 
President's  constitutional  war  powers,  and  urged  that  they  should 
be  used,  first,  to  set  the  slaves  free;  and,  second,  to  make  the 
slaves  themselves  aid  the  work  of  abolishing  slavery  and  main 
taining  the  Union.  He  believed  that  this  institution  was  the 
backbone  of  the  South,  that  the  war  was  brought  on  to  save 
it  from  the  civilizing  tendencies  of  the  age,  and  that  among 
the  first  steps  taken  by  the  Federal  government,  when  thus 
assailed  by  slavery,  should  be  the  proclaiming  of  freedom  to  all 
bondsmen  and  the  guaranteeing  of  the  protection  of  the  govern 
ment  to  the  free.  He  argued  that  such  a  policy,  promptly 
declared,  would  produce  chaos  in  the  South,  would  subject  the 
Confederate  government  to  the  danger  of  local  uprisings  of  the 
negroes,  and  would  thus  make  victory  easy.  But  the  Adminis 
tration  was  not  prepared  to  take  a  step  so  far  in  advance  of 
popular  opinion,  and  for  some  months  the  prevailing  policy  was 
one  which  prohibited  the  soldiers  of  the  Union  from  protecting 
or  harboring  fugitive  slaves,  and  in  some  instances  made  slave- 
hunters  of  the  troops.  When  General  Fremont,  on  the  31st  of 
August,  issued  his  proclamation  in  Missouri,  declaring  free  all 
slaves  belonging  to  persons  engaged  in  the  rebellion,  Mr.  Chand 
ler  was  among  those  who  most  heartily  approved  this  step.  The 
President  was  alarmed,  as  he  feared  the  country  was  not  ready 
for  such  an  act,  and  greatly  modified  the  Fremont  proclamation, 
as  he  also  did  a  still  more  sweeping  order  of  General  Hunter  in 
the  following  May.  Mr.  Chandler's  disappointment  at  this  was 
extreme,  but  within  a  few  months  he  saw  emancipation  resorted 
to  by  the  Administration  as  a  war  measure,  and  a  death-blow 
dealt  to  "  the  relic  of  barbarism."  That  part  of  the  report  for 
1861  of  Simon  Cameron  as  Secretary  of  War,  which  urged  the 
most  summary  attacks  upon  the  institution  of  slavery  as  the 


254:  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

surest  means  of  dealing  mortal  blows  to  the  rebellion,  and  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  suppressed,  Mr.  Chandler  heartily  endorsed,  and 
every  manifestation  by  Northern,  commanders  of  a  disposition  to 
make  their  armies  defenders  of  the  slave  system  aroused  his 
indignation.  The  act  of  March  13,  1862,  prohibiting  by  an 
article  of  war  the  use  of  the  troops  for  the  returning  of  fugitive 
slaves  to  their  masters,  he  earnestly  supported,  and  the  act  of 
April  16,  1862,  abolishing  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
was  a  measure  in  which  he  especially  interested  himself,  and 
whose  final  passage  he  celebrated  by  an  entertainment  given  to 
its  most  devoted  friends  at  his  rooms  in  the  National  Hotel  of 
Washington.  The  abortive  colonization  schemes  which  were  tried 
about  this  time,  at  Mr.  Lincoln's  urgent  recommendation,  Mr. 
Chandler  privately  opposed  as  utterly  inadequate  and  as  a  mere 
diversion  of  force  into  useless  channels,  but  for  public  reasons 
he  made  no  open  resistance  to  the  experiment.  For  the  laws  of 
June  19,  1862,  forever  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  territories,  and 
of  June  28,  1864:,  repealing  the  fugitive  slave  statutes,  it  need 
not  be  said  that  he  labored  with  unflagging  industry. 

Mr.  Chandler  was  very  active  in  advocating  the  use  of 
colored  troops  as  soldiers,  being  months  in  advance  of  the 
Administration  in  this  respect ;  he  urged  this  policy  upon  the 
authorities  unsuccessfully  for  weeks,  and  then  worked  earnestly 
to  secure  legislation  from  Congress  authorizing  the  enrollment 
and  enlistment  of  negroes.  This  movement  was  so  strenuously 
resisted  at  the  capitol  that  in  the  end  a  compromise  was  effected 
upon  a  bill,  which  was  approved  on  July  16,  1862,  authorizing 
the  receiving  of  colored  men  as  laborers  in  the  army  to  dig 
trenches  and  do  other  work  of  non  -  combatants.  But  after  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation  black  men  were  accepted  as  soldiers 
by  order  of  the  President,  and  regularly  enrolled  and  paid.  Mr. 
Chandler  always  believed  that  that  proclamation  and  the  enlist 
ment  of  freedmen  in  the  army  were  two  of  the  most  powerful 


"THE    WAR    SENATOR." 

blows  at  the  rebellion,  and  often  remarked,  when  talking  upon 
the  subject,  that  they  were  worth  300,000  men.  While  the  con 
troversy  over  this  important,  step  was  unsettled,  General  Butler, 
at  New  Orleans,  found  himself  in  need  of  reinforcements,  and 
was  actually  compelled  to  organize  and  arm  several  regiments  of 
colored  soldiers,  whom  he  knew  to  be  especially  well  adapted  to 
the  performance  of  a  certain  class  of  duties  in  that  region  which 
could  not  be  done  by  soldiers  from  the  North,  who  were  not 
acclimated.  This  step  on  his  part  followed  his  definite  refusal, 
under  instructions  from  Washington,  to  permit  General  Phelps  to 
do  the  same  thing  ( that  officer  resigning  for  this  very  reason.) 
While  the  correspondence  on  this  whole  topic  was  in  progress 
with  the  authorities,  General  Butler  appealed  to  Senator  Chand 
ler,  writing  him  long  letters  showing  the  sanitary  necessity  of 
having  negro  garrisons  in  some  localities,  and  touching  upon  the 
other  phases  of  the  question.  He  also  asked  the  Senator's  aid 
in  securing  arms  and  equipments  for  these  colored  troops,  and 
obtained  from  him  valuable  assistance  in  pushing  on  the  requisi 
tions  at  the  War  Department  in  defiance  of  official  "  red  tape." 
On  this  general  question  Mr.  Chandler  said  in  the  Senate,  on 
June  28,  18C4 : 

I  believe  that  this  rebellion  is  to  be  crushed,  is  to  be  exterminated,  and  I 
believe  that  every  man  who  favors  it,  whether  he  be  a  member  of  this  body 
or  a  member  of  the  Southern  army,  is  to  be  crushed  and  to  be  exterminated, 
unless  he  repents.  That  is  what  I  believe.  ...  I  thank  God  the  nation  has 
risen  to  the  point  of  using  every  implement  that  the  Almighty  and  common 
sense  have  put  in  its  hands  to  crush  the  rebellion.  .  .  .  We  do  not  need 
another  man  from  north  of  the  Potomac.  Let  us  bring  the  loyal  men  of  the 
South  in  to  put  down  treason  in  the  South,  and  there  are  men  enough  and 
more  than  enough  to  do  it.  We  have  heard  enough  about  not  using  black 
men  to  put  down  this  rebellion.  I  would  use  every  thing  that  God  and  nature 
had  put  in  my  hands  to  put  down  this  rebellion  ;  but  first  I  would  use  the 
black  element,  bring  every  negro  soldier  who  can  fight  into  the  army.  A 
negro  is  better  than  a  traitor.  I  say  this  advisedly.  I  consider  a  loyal  negro 
better  than  a  secession  traitor,  either  in  the  North  or  the  South.  I  prefer 
him  anywhere  an  1  everywhere  that  you  please  to  put  him.  A  secession 


256  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

traitor  is  beneath  a  loyal  negro.  I  would  let  a  loyal  negro  vote  ;  I  would  let 
him  testify  ;  I  would  let  him  fight  ;  I  would  let  him  do  any  other  good  thing, 
and  I  would  exclude  a  secession  traitor. 

The  seizure  of  the  rebel  emissaries,  Mason  and  Slidell,  by 
Captain  AVilkes,  on  the  British  steamer  Trent,  was  heartily 
applauded  by  Mr.  Chandler,  and  he  opposed  with  much  earnest 
ness  their  surrender  at  the  demand  of  Great  Britain.  Mr. 
Seward's  policy  in  the  matter  seemed  to  him  to  be  humiliating, 
and  the  possibility  of  a  second  war,  in  case  Captain  Wilkes  was 
sustained,  he  did  not  dread,  believing  that  the  nation  would 
treble  its  military  strength  in  the  face  of  such  a  danger,  that 
the  South  would  suffer  from  an  alliance  with  a  country  so  long 
regarded  as  the  hereditary  foe  of  the  American  people,  and  that 
the  -end  would  be  the  conquest  and  annexation  of  the  British 
American  provinces.  He  was  greatly  incensed  by  Great  Britain's 
prompt  concession  of  belligerent  rights  to  the  South  and  by  its 
blustering  bearing  in  the  Trent  case,  and  at  one  time  suggested 
a  policy  of  non -intercourse  with  that  power,  which  he  regarded 
as  an  inveterate  enemy.  In  later  years  he  advocated  the  most 
vigorous  pushing  of  "  the  Alabama  claims,"  and  at  the  time  of 
the  British  war  with  Abyssinia  offered  in  the  Senate  a  resolution 
recognizing  King  Theodore  as  a  "  belligerent "  in  the  general 
terms  of  the  Queen's  proclamation  of  May,  1861,  in  regard  to 
the  Confederacy.  He  never  ceased  to  believe  that  the  United 
States,  in  the  settlement  of  its  war  claims  with  Great  Britain, 
ought  to  have  refused  to  accept  anything  less  than  the  annexa 
tion  of  the  Canadas. 

Mr.  Chandler  in  the  Senate  favored  imposing  severe  penalties 
on  the  gold  gambling  in  Wall  street,  which  affected  so  injuriously 
the  national  credit.  In  the  preparation  of  the  internal  revenue 
laws  of  1862,  imposing  a  large  number  of  taxes  and  affecting 
vast  interests,  he  gave  exceedingly  valuable  aid,  his  own  business 
experience  and  his  familiarity  with  commercial  details  making 


"THE    WAR    SENATOR."  257 

Ms  suggestions  practical  in  form  and  wise  in  scope.  Every 
measure  to  secure  the  stringent  enforcement  of  the  laws  for  the 
punishment  of  treason  received  his  hearty  support,  and  his 
denunciation  of  traitors  and  their  open  or  secret  allies  continued 
to  be  vigorous  and  unsparing.*  His  industry  time  alone  seemed 
to  restrain,  for  his  zeal  was  inexhaustible  and  his  magnificent 
physical  powers  bore  the  tremendous  strain  unyieldingly.  His 
public  record  during  the  four  years  of  the  war  makes  it  possible 
to  apply  to  him,  without  extravagance,  Lord  Clarendon's  descrip 
tion  of  Hampden :  "  He  was  of  a  vigilance  not  to  be  tired  out  or 
"  wearied  by  the  most  laborious,  and  of  parts  not  to  be  imposed 
"  on  by  the  most  subtle  or  sharp,  and  of  a  personal  courage 
"  equal  to  his  best  parts." 

The  ;'  little,  nameless,  unremembered  acts  "  of  these  days  were 
of  no  slight  aggregate  importance  and  thoroughly  illustrate  the 
characteristics  of  the  man.  There  was  no  reasonable  service  that 
he  was  not  quick  to  render  to  any  volunteer  who  applied  to  him 
for  aid.  A  blue  uniform  gained  for  its  wearer  prompt  admit 
tance  to  his  room  and  a  careful  hearing  for  any  request.  Repeat 
edly  private  soldiers  saw  him  leave  men  of  rank  and  influence 
to  listen  to  their  stories,  and  lay  aside  matters  of  pressing 
moment  to  act  upon  their  complaints  or  relieve  their  distress,  f 

*  Extract  from  a  debate  in  the  Senate  on  April  12,  1864  : 

Mil.  POWELL,  of  Kentucky:  The  Senator  from  Michigan,  if  I  understood  him,  said  that 
I  was  now  the  friend  of  traitors  ? 

MR.  CHANDLER,  :  You  did  understand  me  properly.  You  have  been  the  friend  of 
traitors,  and  I  voted  to  expel  you,  as  a  traitor,  from  this  body. 

MR.  POWELL  :  Do  I  understand  you  to  say  that  I  am  now  the  friend  of  traitors  and 
of  treason  ? 

Mil.  CHANDLER  :  You  co-operated  with  traitors,  and  I  have  never  known  you  to  cast 
a  vote  that  was  not  in  favor  of  rebellion. 

t  It  is  exceedingly  gratifying  to  witness  the  marked  attention  Mr.  Chandler  bestows  on 
soldiers.  One  day  I  happened  to  be  in  his  room,  when  a  major  -  general  and  a  senator 
came  in.  Shortly  after  a  sprightly  young  soldier  came  to  the  door.  When  about  to  enter, 
the  young  man  hesitated  to  interrupt  their  conversation,  but  Mr.  Chandler  at  once  gave 
his  attention  to  the  soldier,  who,  on  being  asked  to  take  a  seat  and  tell  what  he  desired, 
said  he  was  a  paroled  prisoner  and  wished  a  furlough  home,  and  that  he  had  been  told 
that  all  he  had  to  do  was  to  apply  to  him  and  Le  would  be  sure  to  get  it.  Mr  Chandler 
immediately  took  his  papers  and  secured  the  furlough  for  him. — Washington  letter  of  1863. 
17 


258  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

He  visited  the  hospitals  to  seek  out  Michigan  men  whom  he 
could  help,  and  to  see  that  they  were  properly  provided  for, 
while  their  applications  for  furloughs  and  for  discharges,  if 
entrusted  to  his  care,  were  so  pushed  as  to  obtain  prompt  action 
from  the  authorities  in  spite  of  routine  and  official  tardiness. 
He  advanced  large  sums  of  money  to  help  destitute  and  invalid 
soldiers  homeward,*  or  to  aid  the  friends  of  fallen  or  wounded 
men  upon  their  melancholy  errands.  Upon  all  occasions  he  was 
especially  attentive  to  the  humblest  applicants,  and  the  case  of 
the  private  soldier  in  distress  and  need  touched  his  sympathies 
the  most  quickly.  His  was  a  familiar  figure  in  all  the  depart 
ments,  often  accompanied  with  a  squad  of  sick,  crippled,  even 
ragged,  veterans,  in  search  of  delayed  furloughs,  or  of  arrears  of 
pay,  or  of  the  medical  examinations  preceding  invalid  discharges, 
or  of  some  service  which  "  red  tape "  had  delayed.  In  the  words 
of  one  who  possessed  abundant  opportunities  for  obtaining  knowl 
edge,  "  This  could  be  said  of  Mr.  Chandler  to  a  greater  extent 
"than  of  any  other  public  man  I  ever  saw,  that  he  would  spare 
"  no  pains  in  doing  even  little  things  for  men  who  were  of  the 
"smallest  consequence  to  one  in  his  position.  Pie  would  take 
"great  trouble  in  hunting  up  minor  matters  for  enlisted  men, 
"  and  this  it  was  that  made  him  so  popular  among  the  soldiers." 
His  activity  in  their  behalf  was  not  limited  by  State  lines ;  he 
answered  any  appeals  that  came  to  him,  although  he  was  espe 
cially  prompt  and  vigilant  in  helping  the  "  Michigan  boys."  f 


*Mr.  Chandler  said  that  during  the  late  war,  while  lie  was  in  Washington,  he  loaned 
our  soldiers  several  thousands  of  dollars,  in  small  sums  of  from  $2  to  $10  each,  but  that 
the  whole  amount  was  repaid  to  hrn  with  the  exception  of  about  $10,  and  he  was  satisfied 
that  the  poar  man  who  owed  him  that  small  amount  had  given  their  lives  for  their  country. 
—Hon.  M.  S.  Brewer  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  Jan.  28,  1880. 

t  This  tribute  comes  from  a  well-known  officer  of  the  Michigan  volunteer  regiments: 

DETROIT,  February  3,  1880. 

Could  ail  the  acts  of  kindness  and  aid  rendered  by  Senator  Chandler  to  the  soldiers 
of  Michigan,  their  families  and  friends,  during  the  war,  and  especially  to  those  who  filled 
the  ranks,  be  gathered  toother  and  written  out,  the  volumes  that  contained  them  would 
be  large  and  numerous.  No  soldier,  however  humble,  ever  applied  to  him,  when  in  distress 


"THE   WAR    SENATOR"  259 

At  the  War  Department  Mr.  Chandler  was  as  well  known 
as  (and  was  reputed  to  be  scarcely  less  powerful  than)  the  Sec 
retary  himself.  Mr.  Stanton's  brusqueness  never  daunted  him, 
and  few  stood  upon  such  terms  of  privileged  intercourse  with 
that  no  less  irascible  than  great  man.  Repeatedly  he  elbowed 
his  way  through  the  crowded  ante -chamber  of  the  Secretary's 
office,  pushed  past  protesting  orderlies,  strode  up  to  Mr.  Stan- 
ton's  private  desk,  and  obtained  by  emphatic  personal  application 
some  order  which  subordinates  could  not  grant  in  a  case  need 
ing  prompt  action."-  Where  other  men  would  have  encountered 
rebuff  he  rarely  failed.  In  connection  with  this  phase  of  his 
public  activity  these  letters  are  of  interest : 

DETROIT,  Mich.,  July  29,  1862. 
lion.  E.  ]\L  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War. 

DZAR  SIR:  Brigadier  -  General  Richardson,  of  this  State,  is  reported  as 
being,  absent  from  duty  without  leave.  This  is  not  true.  He  is  absent  on  sick 

or  trouble,  that  he  did  not  receive  a  patient  hearing  and,  if  possible,  speedy  aid.  No  sol 
dier's  wife,  father,  mother,  or  other  kin  ever  wrote  him  a  letter  that  was  not  answered. 
To  these  fact?  there  a:-e  thousands  who  can  testify  to-day,  and  many  thousands  more  who 
could  do  so  were  they  not  in  their  graves. 

In  th:>se  dark  days  he  was  always  sanguine  of  the  final  triumph  of  our  armies,  and 
he  always  assured  the  soldiers  of  his  positive  convictions  that  in  the  end  they  would  be 
victorious.  None  except  those  who  had  experience  can  ever  know  what  cheerful  assurances 
and  hopeful  words  from  those  high  in  authority  did  to  nerve  men  for  the  work  of  severe 
campaigns. 

The  trials  and  fatigues  of  army  life,  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  final  results,  were 
lessened  vastly  by  the  assuring  words  of  brave,  indomitable  men  liko  Zachariah  Chandler. 
All  honor  to  his  memoiy,  as  also  to  the  memory  of  his  great  associates  in  high  places 
during  thoae  memorable  days  !  R.  A.  ALGI:R. 

*  This  anecdote  is  related  by  a  prominent  Michigan  officer  :  1  accompanied  Senator 
Chandler  on?e  to  the  War  Department  to  secure  the  re-instatement  of  a  paymaster  who, 
it  had  b33n  clearly  ascertained,  had  been  unjustly  dismissed.  The  papers  were  in  the  pos 
ses  nan  of  the  proper  bureau,  and  action  had  been  promised,  but  was  delayed.  A  great 
bD:ly  of  eagar  applicants  were  gathered  about  the  Secretary's  door,  which  was  guarded  by 
two  sentriai  with  crossed  bayonets.  He  pushed  rapidly  through  the  mass  of  people  to  the 
entrance  o£  the  private  office,  where  the  sentinel  said,  "The  Secretary  is  very  busy,  Mr. 
Senator.  "  4'I  know  he  is,'1  was  Mr.  Chandler's  response,  and  laying  a  hand  on  each  bayo 
net  he  pushe  1  them  up  over  our  heads,  opened  the  door,  and  we  wore  in  Mr.  Stanton  s 
presence.  Once  there,  he  commenced  a  vigorous  denunciation  of  the  tardiness  of  the 
Department,  upbraided  the  Secretary  because  no  action  had  yet  been  taken  in  the  case 
according  to  promise,  and  astonished  me  by  the  earnestness  of  his  criticisms.  Mr.  btanton 
heard  him  pleasantly,  said  when  he  stopped,  '  Are  you  all  through,  Chandler  ? "  and  therv 
gave  the  order  we  needed. 


260  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 


leave,  and  is  noi;  able  to  join  his  command.  Will  you  not,  in  accordance 
with  the  wishes  of  the  whole  delegation,  assign  him  to  the  command  of 
Michigan  soldiers  now  being  raised  ?  His  presence  here,  and  the  assurance 
that  he  is  to  command,  will  greatly  stimulate  enlistments.  We  are  proud  of 
him  as  one  of  the  best  righting  generals  of  the  army.  Very  truly  yours, 

Z.  CHANDLER. 

DETROIT,  July  31,  1862. 
Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War. 

SIR:  There  is  a  fine  company  of  ninety -five  splendid  men  guarding  three 
rebel  prisoners  at  Mackinac.  Would  it  not  be  well  to  put  those  rascals  in 
some  tobacco  warehouse  or  jail  and  send  these  troops  where  they  are  needed  ? 
General  Terry  would  like  a  command  in  some  other  division  than  the  one  he 
is  in.  Can  you  not  accommodate  him  ?  The  soldiers  at  Mackinac  are  anxious 
for  active  service  and  are  well  drilled.  Very  truly  yours, 

Z.  CHANDLER. 

DETROIT,  Aug.  9,  1862. 
Adjutant  -  General  Thomas. 

DEAR  SIR:  Arj  the  boys  of  the  Michigan  First  (Bull  Run  prisoners) 
exchanged  yet  ?  I  promised  them  it  should  be  done  at  once,  and  now  find 
them  enlisting  again  under  the  supposition  that  it  has  been  done.  The  list  is 
with  the  Secretary  of  War.  Our  quota  is  full,  and  our  blood  is  up.  They 
were  yesterday  paying  $10  for  a  chance  to  enter  some  of  the  regiments.  Very 
truly  yours,  Z.  CHANDLER. 

DETROIT,  Aug.  28,  18G2. 
Hon.    Wm.   A.   Howard. 

DEAR  SIR  :  Will  you  say  from  me  to  the  Secretary  of  War  that  I  deem 
it  of  vital  importance  that  some  one  be  authorized  to  open  and  examine  rebel 
correspondence  passing  through  the  Detroit  postoffice?  Mr.  Smith  (of  the  post- 
office)  informs  me  that  letters  come  through  directed  to  rebels  at  Windsor. 
Truly  yours,  Z.  CHANDLER. 

DETROIT,  Nov.  15,  1863. 
Hon.   E.   M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  telegraphed  you  to-night  to  send  heavy  guns  and  ammu 
nition  to  the  lakes.  The  reason  was  this  :  Upon  examination  I  found  that 
we  could  improvise  a  navy  in  about  two  hours  which  could  cope  with  any 
rebel  armament  which  could  be  placed  upon  the  lakes,  if  we  had  big  guns.  But 
my  investigation  furnished  one  68 -pounder,  condemned,  nnd  four  32  -  pounders, 
without  powder,  at  Erie  ;  and  this  was  our  whole  armament  on  the  lakes, 
except  one  32 -pounder  upon  the  Michigan,  and  a  few  6,  10  and  12 -pounders. 
We  must  have  guns  of  large  calibre  at  each  of  the  principal  ports.  If  you 
cannot  spare  eleven -inch  guns  immediately  send  us  some  eight -inch  or  some 


"THE    WAR    SENATOR."  261 

4 
old  68 -pounders,    with  ammunition.     A  tug,    costing   not    over   $30,000,  with 

one  eleven  -  inch  gun  on  board  and  a  crew  of  twenty  men,  could  destroy  a 
million  dollars'  worth  of  property  on  the  lakes  every  twenty -four  hours,  and 
we  would  be  powerless.  She  would  sink  the  Michigan  with  one  judiciously- 
placed  shell.  We  are  not  alarmed,  but  we  want  big  guns  and  must  have  them. 
The  lake  marine  is  scarcely  second  to  the  ocean  in  tonnage  and  value,  and  it 
must  be  protected.  We  had  no  idea  of  our  defenses  until  the  late  scare,, 
Truly  yours,  Z.  CHANDLER. 

Mr.  Chandler's  influence  with  public  men  and  in  the  private 
councils  of  the  nation's  leaders  at  Washington  was  throughout 
the  war  always  invigorating.  '  From  the  very  outset,  and  while 
the  patriotic  instinct  of  the  North  was  "  still,  as  it  were,  in  the 
gristle  and  not  yet  hardened  into  the  bone,"  he  urged  upon  the 
executive  authorities  summary  measures,  and  the  striking  of  hard 
and  quick  blows.  He  advised  them  to  arrest  traitors  while  their 
treason  was  still  in  the  bud.  He  urged  them  to  make  early  and 
incessant  attacks  on  the  enemy,  and  counseled  implicit  reliance 
on  the  devotion  and  loyalty  of  the  North.  The  Union  cause 
saw  no  hour  so  dark  that  the  eye  of  his  courage  could  not  pene 
trate  its  gloom ;  the  rebellion  won  no  victory  that  shook  his 
absolutely  "  dauntless  resolution."  Every  suggestion  of  peace 
except  on  the  basis  of  Freedom  and  the  national  supremacy  he 
denounced.  Every  hint  of  conciliating  armed  traitors  he  scouted 
as,  in  Hosea  Biglow's  phrase,  mere  "  tryin'  squirt -guns  on  the 
infernal  Pit."  To  the  real  statesmanship  of  that  period  he  thus 
gave  expression  in  a  public  dinner  at  Washington  early  in 
1863:  "We  must  accept  no  compromise;  a  patched -up  peace 
will  be  followed  by  continued  war  and  anarchy."  He  chafed 
like  a  caged  lion  before  half  -  heartedness,  imbecility  and  delay. 
His  sincerity  and  his  earnestness  revived  the  discouraged  and 
aroused  hope,  and  his  strong  convictions  inspired  men  of  weaker 
moral  fibre  with  something  of  his  own  inflexibility.  He  never 
hesitated  to  use  plain  words  in  dealing  with  the  nation's  enemies, 
he  never  lost  faith,  and  he  never  admitted  the  possibility  of 


282  ZACHARIAH   CHANDLER. 

defeat.  At  the  White  House  his  visits  were  ever  welcome,  hia 
advice  received,  and  the  virility  of  his  understanding  and  the 
fervor  of  his  patriotism  recognized.  Mr.  Chandler  appreciated  to 
the  full  extent  the  innate  strength  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  remark 
able  character  and  its  rare  loftiness,  and,  different  as  were  their 
dispositions  and  widely  divergent  as  often  were  their  opinions,  he 
never  lost  confidence  in  the  President's  aims  and  never  ceased  to 
be  one  of  his  trusted  counselors.  Many  features  of  executive 
policy  he  condemned  plainly  and  boldly  to  the  President  him 
self,  but  frankness  and  sincerity  prevented  his  criticisms  from 
becoming  unpalatable,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  often  acknowledged  his 
indebtedness  to  the  practical  wisdom  and  the  tireless  zeal  of  the 
Michigan  Senator. 

Cecil  said  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  "I  know  that  you  can  toil 
terribly."  This  Mr.  Chandler  did  through  those  eventful  years. 
His  labor  was  without  cessation.  The  great  demands  upon  the 
energies  of  the  public  man  were  equaled  by  appeals  for  private 
effort  which  he  would  not  decline,  and  in  every  channel  of 
profitable  work  for  the  Union  cause  he  made  his  strong  will  and 
his  aggressive  vitality  felt.  Industry,  so  unusual  and  efficient, 
multiplied  the  power  of  his  Roman  firmness,  and  these  qualities, 
guided  by  his  strong  understanding,  high  courage,  sincerity  of 
conviction,  and  the  ardor  of  his  patriotism,  made  him  a  leader 
of  men  in  years  when  leadership  without  strength  was  impossible. 
His  impress  is  upon  the  events  of  that  era,  and  of  the  war  for 
Emancipation  and  the  Union  he  could  say  with  Ulysses,  "  I 
am  part  of  all  that  I  have  met."  Through  the  tempest  of  civil 
strife  his  strong  spirit  battled  its  way  unflinchingly  to  the  goal, 
and  title  was  fitly  bestowed  in  the  people's  knighting  of  Zacha^ 
riah  Chandler  as  "The  Great  War  Senator." 


CHAPTER     XT.. 

THE    PRESIDENTIAL    CAMPAIGN    OF    1864. 

TIE  Republican  reverses  of  the  fall  of  1862  were  not 
repeated  in  1863.  Gettysburg  and  Yicksburg,  the  anti- 
draft  riots  in  New  York,  and  the  formal  acceptance  of 
Vallandigharn  as  a  trusted  party  leader  by  the  Democracy 
stimulated  and  strengthened  the  Union  spirit  of  the  North,  and 
the  State  elections  of  that  year  were  emphatic  endorsements  of 
the  party  of  freedom  and  of  its  policy.  The  political  verdicts  of 
the  spring  of  1864:  were  equally  gratifying  to  the  friends  of  lib 
erty  and  the  advocates  of  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,  and, 
with  the  accession  of  General  Grant  to  the  command  of  the 
Union  armies  and  his  "advance  all  along  the  line,"  it  became 
evident  that  nothing  but  discord  among  the  Republicans  could 
deprive  them  of  a  sweeping  victory  in  the  presidential  election. 
The  masses  of  that  party  were  unequivocally  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  re  -  nomination ;  the  common  people  saw  one  of  them 
selves  in  the  White  House  and  fully  met  his  firm  trust  in  them 
with  an  answering  confidence.  But  among  men  of  influence 
within  the  Republican  ranks  there  was  an  exceedingly  earnest 
opposition  to  his  second  candidacy.  Some  of  this  sprang  from 
rival  aspirations;  more  of  it  from  disappointed  office  -  seeking  and 
from  personal  pique;  but  there  was  outside  and  above  such  con 
siderations  a  strong  feeling,  entirely  disinterested  in  origin  and 
honorable  in  character,  and  held  by  thousands  of  sincere  men, 
that  the  President  was  unduly  conservative  in  policy  and  that  a 
man  of  more  aggressive  temperament  ought  to  be  elected  in  his 
stead.  There  were  also  not  a  few  experienced  politicians  who 


264:  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

regarded  the  personal  opposition  to  Mr.  Lincoln  as  sufficiently 
formidable  to  jeopard  party  success,  and  who  were  inclined  to 
think  that  the  selection  of  some  candidate  who  was  not  identi 
fied  with  the  existing  Administration,  and  thus  would  not  be 
compelled  to  defend  its  acts,  was  demanded  on  the  ground  of 
superior  "  availability."  The  anti  -  Lincoln  wing  of  the  party  at 
that  time  included  such  men  as  Mr.  Chase  and  Mr.  Greeley,  was 
represented  by  many  of  the  leading  newspapers,  including  the 
entire  New  York  press  except  the  Times,  and  counted  among 
its  especially  active  members  not  a  few  of  the  most  earnest  and 
devoted  of  the  original  Abolitionists. 

In  this  chaotic  condition  of  party  sentiment  a  call  appeared 
(in  April,  1861)  addressed  "  To  the  Radical  Men  of  the  Nation." 
and  requesting  them  to  meet  by  representatives  in  convention  at 
Cleveland,  O.,  on  May  31.  Those  of  its  signers  who  were  best 
known  were  B.  Gratz  Brown,  Lucius  Robinson,  John  Cochrane, 
Frederick  Douglass,  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  George  B.  Cheever, 
James  Redpath,  Wendell  Phillips  and  Emil  Pretorious.  Its  tone 
will  appear  from  this  paragraph: 

The  imbecile  and  vacillating  policy  of  the  present  Administration  in  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  being  just  weak  enough  to  waste  its  men  and  means  to 
provoke  the  enemy,  but  not  strong  enough  to  conquer  the  rebellion  —  and  its 
treachery  to  justice,  freedom  and  genuine  democratic  principles  in  its  plan  of 
reconstruction,  whereby  the  honor  and  dignity  of  tli3  nation  have  been  sacri 
ficed  to  conciliate  the  still  -  existing  and  arrogant  slave  power,  and  to  further 
the  ends  of  unscrupulous  partisan  ambition  —  call  in  thunder  tones  upon  the 
lovers  of  justice  and  their  country  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  the  imperiled 
nationality  and  the  cause  of  impartial  and  universal  freedom  threatened  with 
betrayal  and  overthrow. 

The  way  to  victory  and  salvation  is  plain.  Justice  must  be  throned  in 
the  seats  of  national  legislation,  and  guide  the  executive  will.  The  things 
demanded,  and  which  we  ask  you  to  join  us  to  render  sure,  are  the  immedi 
ate  extinction  of  slavery  throughout  the  whole  United  States  by  Congressional 
action,  the  absolute  equality  of  all  men  before  the  law  without  regard  to 
race  or  color,  and  such  a  plan  of  reconstruction  as  shall  conform  entirely  to 
the  policy  of  freedom  for  all,  placing  the  political  power  alone  in  the  hands 
of  the  loyal,  and  executing  with  vigor  the  law  for  confiscating  the  property  of 
the  rebels. 


THE    ELECTION  OF  1864.  265 

This  document  was  widely  published,  and  the  New  York 
Tribune  in  advance  approved  the  calling  of  this  convention, 
although  it  did  not  in  the  end  support  its  action.  The  call  was 
answered  by  about  350  persons  from  fifteen  States ;  while  very 
few  of  them  were  men  of  more  than  limited  reputation,  yet 
they  made  up  a  body  representing  wide  -  spread  convictions 
strongly  and  sincerely  held.  Ex -Governor  W.  F.  Johnston  of 
Pennsylvania  was  the  temporary  and  Gen.  John  Cochrane  of 
New  York  the  permanent  presiding  officer  of  the  convention. 
It  nominated  John  C.  Fremont  for  President,  and  General  Coch 
rane  for  Yice  -  President,  and  adopted  a  platform  exceedingly 
radical  in  terms,  including  declarations  in  favor  of  unconditional 
emancipation,  a  one -term  presidency,  the  Monroe  doctrine,  and 
the  wholesale  confiscation  of  the  property  of  the  rebels.  Two 
letters  were  received  by  it  which  at  the  time  produced  a  strong 
impression.  In  one  of  them,  Lucius  Robinson,  then  Comptroller 
of  New  York,  severely  condemned  "  a  weak  Executive  and  Cabi 
net,"  and  urged  the  nomination  of  General  Grant,  "a  man  who 
has  displayed  the  qualities  which  give  all  men  confidence."  In 
the  second,  Wendell  Phillips  attacked  a  Republican  administra 
tion  with  that  polished  invective  which  had  made  him  one  of 
the  most  formidable  assailants  of  the  slave  power.  He  wrote: 

For  three  years  the  Administration  has  lavished  money  without  slint  and 
drenched  the  land  in  blood,  and -it  has  not  yet  thoroughly  and  heartily  struck 
at  the  slave  system.  Confessing  that  the  use  of  this  means  is  indispensable, 
the  Administration  has  used  it  just  enough  to  irritate  the  rebels  and  not 
enough  to  save  the  state.  In  sixty  days  after  the  rebellion  broke  out  the 
Administration  suspended  habeas  corpus  on  the  plea  of  military  necessity — 
justly.  For  three  years  it  has  poured  out  the  treasure  and  blood  of  the 
country  like  water.  Meanwhile  slavery  was  too  sacred  to  be  used  ;  that  was 
saved  lest  the  feelings  of  the  rebels  should  be  hurt.  The  Administration 
weighed  treasure,  blood,  and  civil  liberty  against  slavery,  and,  up  to  the 
present  moment,  has  decided  to  exhaust  them  all  before  it  uses  freedom 
heartily  as  a  means  of  battle.  ...  A  quick  and  thorough  reorganization  of 
States  on  a  democratic  basis  —  every  man  and  race  equal  before  the  law  —  is 
the  only  sure  way  to  save  the  Union.  I  urge  it,  not  for  the  black  vman's  sake 


266  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER 

alone,  but  for  ours  —  for  the  nation's  sake.  Against  such  recognition  of  the 
blacks  Mr.  Lincoln  stands  piedged  by  prejudice  and  avowal.  Men  say,  if  we 
elect  him  he  may  change  his  views.  Possibly.  But  three  years  have  been  a 
long  time  for  a  man's  education  in  such  hours  as  these.  The  nation  cannot 
afford  more.  At  any  rate  the  constitution  gives  this  summer  an  opportunity 
to  make  President  a  man  fully  educated.  I  prefer  that  course. 

The  Administration,  therefore,  I  regard  as  a  civil  and  military  failure, 
and  its  avowed  policy  ruinous  to  the  North  in  every  point  of  view.  Mr.  Lin 
coln  may  wish  the  end  —  peace  and  freedom — but  he  is  wholly  unwilling  to 
use  the  means  which  can  secure  that  end.  If  Mr.  Lincoln  is  re  -  elected  I  do 
not  expect  to  see  the  Union  reconstructed  in  my  day,  unless  on  terms  more 
disastrous  to  liberty  than  even  disunion  would  be.  If  I  turn  to  General  Fre 
mont,  I  see  a  man  whose  first  act  would  be  to  use  the  freedom  of  the  negro 
as  his  weapon  ;  I  see  one  whose  thorough  loyalty  to  democratic  institutions 
without  regard  to  race,  whose  earnest  and  decisive  character,  whose  clear- 

\  sighted  statesmanship   and  rare  military  ability  justify  my  confidence   that    in 
his  hands  all  will  be  done  to  save  the  state  that  foresight,  skill,  decision,  and 

>  statesmanship  can  do. 

Generals  Fremont  and  Coclirane  promptly  accepted  the  nom 
inations  thus  tendered  them.  General  Fremont  resigned  his 
commission  in  the  army  before  doing  so,  and  in  his  letter  of 
acceptance  accused  the  Administration  of  "  incapacity  and  self 
ishness,"  of  "  managing  the  war  for  personal  ends,"  of  giving  to 
the  country  "  the  abuses  of  a  military  dictation  without  its  unity 
of  action  and  vigor  of  execution,"  and  of  "  feebleness  and  want 
of  principle"  in  its  dealings  with  other  powers.  He  further 
vindicated  the  Cleveland  action  by  declaring  that,  "if  Mr.  Lin- 
"  coin  had  remained  faithful  to  the  principles  he  was  elected  to 
"  defend,  no  schism  could  have  been  created,"  and  added  :  "  If 
"  the  convention  at  Baltimore  will  nominate  any  man  whose  past 
"life  justifies  a  well-grounded  confidence  in  his  fidelity  to  our 
"  cardinal  principles,  there  is  no  reason  why  there  should  be  any 
"  division  among  the  really  patriotic  men  of  the  country."  There 
was  a  lack  of  any  popular  response  to  this  demonstration,  and 
it  at  once  appeared— and,  in  fact,  this  was  the  sum  of  the 
original  expectations  of  its  shrewder  promoters  —  that  this  move 
ment  was  only  formidable  as  a  rallying  point  for  any  serious 
disaffection  which  might  spring  up  in  the  future. 


THE    ELECTION    OF    1864.  267 

The  "  Union  National "  convention  assembled  at  Baltimore 
on  June  7,  with  every  State,  except  those  still  wholly  in  posses 
sion  of  the  rebels,  represented  upon  its  floor.  It  adopted  a 
platform  denouncing  any  peace  by  compromise,  endorsing  the 
Administration,  and  demanding  the  abolition  of  slavery  by  con 
stitutional  amendment.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  re  -  nominated  for 
the  Presidency,  receiving  every  vote  save  that  of  the  delegation 
of  Missouri  radicals  who  supported  General  Grant,  and  Andrew 
Johnson  was  on  the  first  ballot  nominated  for  Yice  -  President  as 
the  representative  of  the  Union  men  of  the  South.  The  response 
of  the  masses  and  the  leading  papers  of  the  Republican  organiza 
tion  to  this  action  was  prompt  and  hearty ;  but,  notwithstanding 
this  encouraging  fact,  the  political  horizon  grew  rapidly  darker. 
General  Grant  was  in  that  summer  fighting  a  series  of  bloody 
battles  on  and  about  the  banks  of  the  James,  whose  immediate 
results  were  indecisive,  the  attendant  steady  reduction  of  Lee's 
available  force  not  being  then  apparent  at  the  North.  In  like 
manner,  Sherman  was  forcing  his  way  through  the  mountainous 
regions  between  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta,  winning  no  great  vic 
tories  and  losing  thousands  of  men ;  the  mortal  effects  of  his 
blows  at  the  rebels  are  evident  now,  but  could  not  be  seen  then. 
General  Early,  in  July,  swept  down  the  Shenandoah  and  over  the 
Potomac,  burning  Chambersburg  and  threatening  the  defenses  of 
Washington,  finally  making  good  his  retreat.  In  the  face  of  this 
military  situation,  so  encouraging  to  discontent  and  so  calculated 
to  invite  criticism,  the  premium  on  gold  rose  rapidly  to  its 
highest  war  point.  This  disastrous  depreciation  of  the  paper 
money  of  the  government  was  materially  helped  by  the  unex 
pected  resignation,  on  June  30,  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
Salmon  P.  Chase.  Differences  of  opinion  as  to  some  details  of 
department  management  were  assigned  as  the  cause  of  this  step, 
but  its  real  origin  was  much  deeper,  and  Mr.  Chase's  course  was 
universally  ascribed,  and  was  undoubtedly  due,  to  lack  of  sym- 


268  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

pathy  with  and  confidence  in  the  Administration.  The  effect  of 
a  change  in  so  important  a  position  at  such  a  critical  moment 
was  profound,  and  it  gave  a  powerful  stimulus  to  Republican 
disaffection.  This  was  followed  by  the  abortive  peace  negotia 
tions  at  Niagara  Falls  with  C.  C.  Clay,  J.  P.  Holcombe  and  G. 
N".  Sanders0  That  this  was  a  crafty  scheme  to  place  the  Admin 
istration  in  a  false  position  before  both  the  North  and  the  South 
cannot  now  be  doubted.  It  failed  to  yield  all  that  its  projectors 
hoped,  but  it  did  ensnare  Mr.  Greeley  most  disagreeably,  and  it 
had  the  effect  of  furnishing  the  enemy  with  grounds  for  charg 
ing  the  President  with  being  "  hostile  to  peace  except  on 
impossible  conditions."  It  also  materially  augmented  the  public 
restlessness  and  deepened  the  vague  apprehensions  which  natur 
ally  sprang  from  such  exhibitions  of  cross  -  purposes  among  the 
leaders  of  the  national  cause.  Another  event  followed  which  was 
of  still  graver  moment : 

The  problem  of  the  reconstruction  of  the  Southern  States 
after  the  defeat  of  the  rebel  armies  was  from  the  outset  sur 
rounded  with  grave  difficulties,  and  the  views  held  upon  this 
subject  by  the  ablest  Republicans  were  diverse  and  conflicting. 
Bills  and  resolutions  embodying  various  theories  of  reconstruction 
were  presented  in  Congress  early  in  the  war,  but  nothing  was 
done  witli  them,  and  no  definite  policy  was  fixed  by  enactment 
or  even  determined  upon  in  private  consultations.  On  Dec.  8, 
1863,  and  in  connection  with  the  transmission  to  Congress  of  his 
third  annual  message,  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  a  proclamation  offering 
amnesty  to  all  rebels  (with  a  few  conspicuous  exceptions)  who 
should  take  an  oath  of  loyalty,  and  declaring  that  whenever,  in 
any  of  the  seceded  States,  persons  to  the  number  of  not  less 
than  one  -  tenth  of  the  votes  cast  in  such  States  at  the  presi 
dential  election  of  1860,  having  first  taken  and  abided  by  the 
prescribed  oath,  should  re-establish  a  State  government,  republi 
can  in  form  and  recognizing  the  permanent  freedom  of  the 


THE    ELECTION    OF    1864.  269 

slaves,  it  should  "  be  recognized  as  the  true  government  of  the 
State."  This  plan  Mr.  Lincoln  explained  and  defended  at  length 
in  the  message,  and  under  it  provisional  governments  were  soon 
organized  in  Louisiana  and  Arkansas,  and  application  was  made 
for  the  admission  of  their  Senators  and  Representatives  to  Con 
gress.  The  President's  action  in  this  respect  did  not  receive 
congressional  sanction  and  was  not  endorsed  by  the  majority  of 
his  supporters  at  the  capitol.  Many  held  that  the  subject  was  one 
which  was  wholly  within  the  control  of  the  legislative  branch  of 
the  government,  and  that  his  proclamation  was  itself  an  unwar 
rantable  assumption  of  authority  by  the  Executive.  Others 
objected  strenuously  to  the  "one -tenth  clause,"  as  oligarchical  in 
tendency  and  certain  to  leave  the  real  advantages  of  position 
within  easy  reach  of  the  disloyal  majority  in  any  State  thus  recon 
structed.  As  a  rule  those  who  opposed  Mr.  Lincoln's  scheme 
favored  establishing  provisional  governments  in  the  South  until 
there  should  spring  up  a  loyal  majority,  which  could  be  safely 
trusted  with  political  power.  Congress,  therefore,  referred  the 
message  and  proclamation  to  special  committees,  refused  to  recog 
nize  the  Louisiana  and  Arkansas  governments,  and  passed  on  the 
last  day  of  the  session  a  reconstruction  act  differing  radically  in 
terms  from  the  President's  plan.  Its  bill  provided  that  provisional 
governors  should  be  appointed  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate, 
that  an  enrollment  of  white  male  citizens  should  be  made  when 
armed  resistance  ceased  in  any  State,  and  that  when  a  majority  of 
the  citizens  so  enrolled  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  the  loyal 
people  should  be  entitled  to  elect  delegates  to  a  convention  to 
establish  a  State  government ;  upon  the  adoption  of  an  anti- 
slavery  constitution  by  such  a  convention  it  was  to  be  certified  to 
the  President,  who,  with  the  assent  of  Congress,  was  to  recognize 
the  government  thus  established  as  "the  lawful  State  govern 
ment."  This  measure  the  President  defeated  by  withholding  his 
signature.  On  July  8,  1864,  he  issued  a  second  proclamation  upon 


2  TO  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

the  subject,  setting  forth  that  he  had  not  signed  this  bill  because 
"less  than  one  hour"  intervened  between  its  passage  and  the 
adjournment  of  Congress,  and  because  he  was  not  ready  by  its 
approval  to  be  inexorably  committed  to  this  or  any  other  specific 
plan  of  reconstruction  which  would  set  aside  the  quasi- govern 
ments  of  Louisiana  and  Arkansas  and  thus  repel  their  citizens 
from  further  efforts  in  the  same  direction.  He  added  that  he 
was  not  yet  prepared  to  admit  the  "constitutional  competency 
of  Congress  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  States,"  although  lie  did 
earnestly  desire  that  it  should  cease  through  the  adoption  of  a 
constitutional  amendment.  The  proclamation  closed  by  declaring 
that  he  was  satisfied  with  the  terms  of  the  bill,  and  by  pledging 
the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  Executive  with  all  who  might 
avail  themselves  of  the  method  therein  laid  down  to  return  to 
their  places  in  the  Union.  In  response  to  this  proclamation, 
which  treated  the  process  of  reconstruction  as  a  matter  of  execu 
tive  discretion  merely,  there  was  published  early  in  August  a 
vigorously  worded  and  cogently  argued  manifesto,  addressed  "  To 
the  Supporters  of  the  Government,"  and  signed  by  Senator  Ben 
jamin  F.  Wade  and  Representative  Henry  Winter  Davis,  as 
chairmen  of  the  committees  of  their  respective  houses  upon  the 
status  of  the  rebel  States.  This  document  commenced  with  the 
declaration  that  its  authors  had  "  read  without  surprise,  but  not 
without  indignation,"  the  President's  proclamation,  and  proceeded 
as  follows : 

The  President,  by  preventing  this  bill  from  becoming  a  law,  holds  the 
electoral  votes  of  the  rebel  States  at  the  dictation  of  his  personal  ambition. 
If  those  votes  turn  the  balance  in  his  favor,  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  his 
competitor,  defeated  by  such  means,  will  acquiesce  ?  If  the  rebel  majority 
assert  their  supremacy  in  those  States,  and  send  votes  which  elect  an  enemy 
of  the  government,  will  we  not  repel  his  claims  ?  And  is  not  that  civil  war 
for  the  presidency  inaugurated  by  the  votes  of  rebel  States  ?  Seriously 
impressed  with  these  dangers,  Congress,  "the  proper  constitutional  authority," 
formally  declared  that  there  are  no  State  governments  in  the  rebel  States,  and 
provided  for  their  erection  at  a  proper  time  ;  and  both  the  Senate  and  House 


THE    ELECTION    OF    1864.  2TJ. 

of  Representatives  rejected  the  Senators  and  Representatives  chosen  under  the 
authority  of  what  the  President  calls  the  free  constitution  and  government  of 
Arkansas.  The  President's  proclamation  ' '  holds  for  naught "  this  judgment, 
and  discards  the  authority  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  strides  headlong  toward 
the  anarchy  his  proclamation  of  the  8th  of  December  inaugurated.  If  electors 
for  President  be  allowed  to  be  chosen  in  either  of  those  States,  a  sinister  light 
will  be  cast  on  the  motives  which  induced  the  President  to  "hold  for  naught'' 
the  will  of  Congress  rather  than  his  governments  in  Louisiana  and  Arkansas. 
That  judgment  of  Congress  which  the  President  defies  was  the  exercise  of  an 
authority  exclusively  vested  in  Congress  by  the  constitution  to  determine  what 
is  the  established  government  in  a  State,  and  in  its  own  nature  and  by  the 
highest  of  judicial  authority  bindmj  on  all  other  departments  of  the  govern 
ment.  ...  A  more  studied  outrage  on  the  legislative  authority  of  the 
people  has  never  been  perpetrated.  Congress  passed  a  bill  ;  the  President 
refused  to  approve  it,  and  then  by  proclamation  puts  as  much  of  it  in  force 
as  he  sees  fit,  and  proposes  to  execute  those  parts  by  officers  unknown  to  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  and  not  subject  to  the  confirmation  of  the  Senate  ! 
The  bill  directed  the  appointment  of  provisional  governors  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate.  The  President,  after  defeating  such  a  law, 
proposes  to  appoint  without  law,  and  without  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  military  governors  for  the  rebel  States  !  He  has  already  exercised  this 
dictatorial  usurpation  in  Louisiana,  and  he  defeated  the  bill  to  prevent  its 
limitation. 

The  President  has  greatly  presumed  on  the  forbearance  which  the  sup 
porters  of  his  administration  have  so  long  practiced,  in  view  of  the  arduous 
conflict  in  which  we  arc  engaged,  and  the  reckless  ferocity  of  our  political 
opponents.  But  he  must  understand  that  our  support  is  of  a  cause  and  not 
of  a  man  ;  that  the  authority  of  Congress  is  paramount  and  must  be  respected, 
and  that  the  whole  body  of  the  Union  men  of  Congress  will  not  submit  to  be 
impeached  by  him  of  rash  and  unconstitutional  legislation  ;  and  if  he  wishes 
our  support,  he  must  confine  himself  to  his  executive  duties  —  to  obey  and 
execute,  not  make  the  laws — to  suppress  by  arms  armed  rebellion,  and  leave 
political  reorganization  to  Congress. 

If  the  supporters  of  the  government  fail  to  insist  on  this,  they  become 
responsible  for  the  usurpations  which  they  fail  to  rebuke,  and  arc  justly 
liable  to  the  indignation  of  the  people,  whose  rights  and  securit}',  committed 
to  their  keeping,  they  sacrifice.  Let  them  consider  the  remedy  for  these 
usurpations,  and,  having  found  it,  fearlessly  execute  it ! 

The  damaging  force  of  this  attack  was  undoubted.  Mr. 
Wade  was  a  veteran  of  the  anti  -  slavery  "  Old  Guard/'  and  was 
known  through  the  North  to  be  as  sturdy,  true  and  honest  as 
he  was  u  radical "  in  his  .Republicanism  No  man  sat  in  the 


272  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Hause  who  surpassed  —  but  few  men  then  in  public  life  equaled 
—  Henry  Winter  Davis  in  mental  vigor,  in  brilliant  accomplish 
ments,  and  in  moral  fearlessness.  Originally  sent  to  Congress  by 
the  Maryland  u  Americans,"  it  was  his  vote  which  elected  Mr. 
Pennington  to  the  Speakership  in  1859;  to  the  formal  censure  of 
that  act  by  his  Legislature  he  replied  by  telling  the  men  who 
voted  for  it  to  take  their  message  back  to  their  masters,  for 
only  to  their  masters,  the  people,  would  he  reply.  He  made  a 
magnificent  light  against  secession  in  his  State,  and  waged  there 
a  still  more  gallant  battle  for  emancipation,  winning  both.  In 
the  House  he  spoke  always  with  force,  often  with  impassioned 
eloquence,  and  the  .Republican  ranks  contained  no  champion 
more  ardent  in  patriotism  or  more  firmly  attached  to  the  funda 
mental  principles  of  Freedom.  The  formal  uniting  of  these  two 
men,  both  able,  influential  and  unquestionably  sincere,  in  stric 
tures  so  severe  upon  the  President,  materially  invigorated  the 
"  radical "  opposition  to  the  Baltimore  ticket,  increased  Republi 
can  discouragement,  and  furnished  the  Opposition  with  additional 
ground  for  accusing  the  President  of  the  gross  use  of  arbitrary 
power.  The  series  of  events  thus  recapitulated  naturally  gave  to 
the  action  of  the  Cleveland  convention  a  fresh  importance,  and 
by  the  fall  of  1861  it  had  become  a  factor  of  moment  in  the 
political  calculations  of  the  year. 

Greatly  encouraged  by  the  evident  demoralization  of  the 
dominant  party,  the  Democrats  held  their  national  convention  at 
Chicago  on  August  29.  Its  platform  in  effect  declared  the  war 
"  a  failure,"  and  its  ticket  consisted  of  George  B.  McClellan, 
representing  war  without  vigor,  and  George  H.  Pendleton,  repre 
senting  peace  by  compromise.  The  most  conspicuous  figure  on 
its  floor  was  Clement  L.  Vallandigham,  a  banished  traitor  posing 
as  a  martyr,  and  the  sedition  which  was  thinly  disguised  in  its 
deliberations  was  boldly  shouted  to  cheering  mobs  about  its  hall 
and  in  front  of  the  great  hotels  which  its  delegates  thronged. 


THE    ELECTION    OF    1864.  273 

The  character  and  action  of  this  body  made  clear  the  issues  of 
1864: ;  in  Mr.  Seward's  apt  language,  the  people  were  called  upon 
to  decide  whether  they  would  have  "  McClellan  and  Disunion  or 
Lincoln  and  Union."  To  make  the  latter  the  accepted  alterna 
tive  was  impossible  without  complete  Republican  harmony,  and 
to  restore  that  fully  and  promptly  was  plainly  a  matter  of  the 
first  importance.  This  task  was  undertaken  by  Mr.  Chandler, 
whose  relations  with  all  parties  peculiarly  fitted  him  for  the 
work.  He  was  a  pronounced  "  radical,"  and  had  steadfastly 
opposed  many  features  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  policy ;  *  but  honest  dis 
agreement  of  opinion  had  not  impaired  his  full  confidence  in 
the  man,  and  that  firm  grasp  upon  the  practical  aspects  of  all 
political  questions,  which  was  one  of  his  marked  characteristics 
then  as  always,  prevented  him  from  putting  in  jeopardy  essen 
tials  by  unduly  magnifying  differences  as  to  details.  To  the 
wisdom  of  renominating  Mr.  Lincoln  he  assented,  and  his  elec 
tion  he  believed  necessary  to  the  preservation  of  the  government. 
With  Mr.  Wade  he  was  on  terms  of  the  closest  intimacy ;  both 
Mr.  Davis  and  General  Fremont  were  his  personal  friends ;  and 
his  record  and  public  attitude  gave  him  a  claim  upon  the  atten 
tion  of  the  "  radicals "  everywhere.  His  qualifications  as  a 
mediator  were  thus  numerous  and  apparent,  and  were  rounded  out 
by  his  political  experience  and  sagacity. 

Mr.  Chandler  commenced  work  by  visiting  Mr.  Wade  at  his 

*  Mr.  Chandler  explained  the  ground  of  his  opposition  to  the  ten  per  cent,  loyal  basis 
plan  of  reconstruction  proposed  by  Mr.  Lincoln  for  the  admission  of  Louisiana  and  Arkan 
sas.  There  were  not  more  than  seven  or  eight  members  of  the  Senate  with  him  at  the 
beginning  of  the  session  on  that  question,  although  there  was  a  large  majority  before  its 
close.  The  Democrats  did  not  believe  in  this  ten  per  cent,  doctrine,  and  they  voted  with 
those  who  did  not  balieve  in  admitting  those  States  without  guarantees.  This  admission 
was  finally  prevented  by  a  night  of  filibustering.  Only  six  Republicans  remained  and  voted 
during  thai  night.  The  result,  however,  proved  that  those  six  men  were  right,  and  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  others  were  wrong.  If  Louisiana  and  Arkansas  had  been  admitted, 
then  we  would  have  been  compelled  to  admit  all  the  other  States  in  the  same  way,  and 
to-day  we  would  have  eleven  rebel  States  in  the  Union.  Those  two  States,  Louisiana  and 
Arkansas,  had  become  the  most  intensely  rebel  of  all  the  States  that  were  in  rebellion.— 
Report  oj  his  speech,  before  the  Republican  caucus  at  Lansing  on  Jan.  6,  1SG9. 
18 


274  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

homa  in  Ohio,  being  accompanied  thither  by  his  intimate  friend 
and  adviser,  the  Hon.  George  Jerome  of  Detroit.  The  Ohio 
senator's  vigorous  common  sense  was  Mr.  Chandler's  ally  in  the 
long  interview  that  followed,  and  it  only  required  a  thorough 
review  of  the  situation  to  convince  him  that,  if  Lincoln  was 
defeated,  the  Union  cause,  and  not  an  individual,  would  be  the 
sufferer.  Mr.  Wade,  however,  urged  that  Mr.  Lincoln  himself 
should  make  some  sacrifices  of  opinion  and  preference  in  the 
face  of  the  common  danger,  that  the  "  radical "  element  of  the 
Republicans  was  entitled  to  more  considerate  treatment  at  his 
hands,  and  that,  at  least,  his  Cabinet,  which  was  wholly  within 
his  control,  should  not  contain  men  who  were  obnoxious  to  the 
stanchsst  members  of  his  own  party.  Mr.  Wade  then  denounced 
in  tli3  strongest  terms  the  presence  in  and  influence  upon  the 
Administration  of  Montgomery  Blair,  whom  he  believed  to  be  at 
heart  a  Democrat.  Later  years  have  shown  how  well-grounded 
were  the  doubts  then  felt  of  Mr.  Blair's  political  trustworthiness, 
doubts  which  were,  even  in  1864,  general  and  strong  enough  to 
lead  the  Baltimore  convention  to  declare  in  its  platform  that  it 
regarded  "  as  worthy  of  public  confidence  and  official  trust  only 
those  who  cordially  endorsed"  its  principles.  Mr.  Wade  readily 
agreed,  as  the  result  of  this  conference,  to  pursue  any  course 
that  should  command  the  approval  of  his  associate  in  the  mani 
festo,  and  Mr.  Chandler  left  him  to  visit  Mr.  Lincoln  at 
Washington  and  Henry  Winter  Davis  at  Baltimore.  He  obtained 
from  the  President  what  were  practical  assurances  that  Mr.  Blair 
should  not  be  retained  in  the  Cabinet  in  the  face  of  such  strong 
opposition  if  harmony  would  follow  his  removal.  Mr.  Davis 
promptly  recognized  the  logic  of  the  situation,  and  expressed  his 
willingness  to  accept  Blair's  displacement  as  an  olive  branch  and 
give  his  earnest  support  to  the  Baltimore  ticket. 

Mr.    Chandler    next    proceeded    to    "New    York,    and    opened 
negotiations  there  with  the  managers  of  the  Fremont  movement. 


THE    ELECTION    OF    1864.  275 

He  had  expected  Mr.  Wade  to  join  him,  but  was  disappointed 
in  this ;  he  me.t  at  the  Astor  House  the  Hon.  David  II.  Jerome 
of  Saginaw  and  the  Hon.  Ebenezer  O.  Grosvenor  of  Jonesville, 
with  whom  he  frequently  counseled,  and  he  also  obtained  the 
assistance  of  George  Wilkes  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Times.  Mr. 
Wilkes  was  well  known  as  the  master  of  a  pnre  and  vigorous 
English,  and  no  war  correspondent  equaled  him  in  accurate,  lucid 
and  graphic  descriptions  of  important  movements  and  famous 
battles.  The  public,  however,  did  not  know  the  extent  of  his 
political  ability,  of  his  skill  in  affairs  and  of  his  patriotic  energy, 
and  these  qualities  proved  of  the  highest  usefulness  to  Mr. 
Chandler  in  the  completion  of  his  delicate  mission.  Without  the 
aid  so  intelligently  and  zealously  rendered  by  Mr.  Wilkes,  Mr. 
Chandler  doubted  whether  complete  success  would  have  been 
possible.  The  negotiations  were  protracted  for  some  days,  but 
ultimately  the  leaders  of  the  Fremont  organization  agreed  that, 
if  Mr.  Blair  (whom  General  Fremont  regarded  as  a  bitter 
enemy)  left  the  Cabinet  and  all  other  sources  of  Republican 
opposition  to  the  Baltimore  nominees  were  removed,  the  Cleve 
land  ticket  should  be  formally  withdrawn  from  the  field.  While 
these  conferences  were  in  progress  Mr.  Chandler  learned  that  the 
editor  of  one  of  the  influential  evening  papers  of  New  York, 
who  had  originally  doubted  the  propriety  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
renomination,  had  concluded  that  his  election  was  not  possible 
and  had  prepared  "  a  leader  "  urging  his  withdrawal,  the  holding 
of  a  second  convention,  and  Republican  ujiion  upon  either  Gen 
eral  Fremont  or  some  other  candidate  who  could  command  the 
solid  party  support.  It  was  not  until  the  day  of  the  intended 
publication  of  the  article  and  after  it  was  in  type  that  Mr. 
Chandler  learned  of  its  existence,  and  then  by  instant  and  ear 
nest  efforts  he  obtained  its  withholding  until  the  result  of  his 
labors  could  be  known.  Ultimately  all  obstacles  yielded  to  his 
persistence  and  skill,  and  he  started  for  the  capital  to  inform 


276  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Mr.  Lincoln  of  the  close  of  the  negotiations  and  to  ask  the  ful 
fillment  of  the  assurances  concerning  Mr.  Blair's  removal.  On 
reaching  Washington  he  went  instantly  to  the  White  House,  was 
admitted  to  an  immediate  private  interview  with  the  President 
in  preference  to  a  great  throng  of  visitors,  and  reported  in  detail 
the  successful  result  of  his  labors.  On  the  day  of  this  call  upon 
Mr.  Lincoln  (Sept.  22,  1864)  the  newspapers  published  General 
Fremont's  letter  withdrawing  his  name  as  a  presidential  candi 
date.  In  it  he  said : 

The  presidential  contest  has  in  effect  been  entered  upon  in  such  a  way 
that  the  union  of  the  Republican  party  has  become  a  paramount  necessity. 
The  policy  of  the  Democratic  party  signifies  either  separation  or  re  -  establish 
ment  with  slavery.  The  Chicago  platform  is  simply  separation.  General 
McClellan's  letter  of  acceptance  is  re  -  establishment  with  slavery.  The  Repub 
lican  candidate  is,  on  the  contrary,  pledged  to  the  re  -  establishment  of  the 
Union  without  slavery,  and,  however  hesitating  his  policy  may  be,  the  pres 
sure  of  his  party  will,  we  may  hope,  force  him  to  it.  Between  these  issues  I 
think  that  no  man  of  the  Liberal  party  can  remain  in  doubt.  I  believe  I  am 
consistent  with  my  antecedents  and  my  principles  in  withdrawing  —  not  to  aid 
in  the  triumph  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  but  to  do  my  part  toward  preventing  the  elec 
tion  of  the  Democratic  candidate.  In  respect  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  continue  to 
hold  exactly  the  sentiments  contained  in  my  letter  of  acceptance.  I  consider 
that  his  administration  has  been  politically,  militarily  and  financially  a  failure, 
and  that  its  necessary  continuance  is  a  cause  of  regret  to  the  country. 

On  the  following  day  this  correspondence  took  place : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Sept.  23,  1864. 
lion.  Jlfontyomery  Blair. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  You  have  generously  said  to  me  more  than  once  that, 
whenever  your  resignation  could  be  a  relief  to  me,  it  was  at  my  disposal. 
That  time  1ms  come.  You  very  well  know  that  this  proceeds  from  no  dissat 
isfaction  of  mine  with  you  personally  or  officially.  Your  uniform  kindness 
has  been  unsurpassed  by  that  of  any  friend,  and  while  it  is  true  that  the  war 
does  not  seem  greatly  to  add  to  the  difficulties  of  your  department,  as  to  those 
of  some  others,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  which  I  most  truly  can,  that  in  the 
three  years  and  a  half  during  which  you  have  administered  the  general  post- 
office  I  remember  no  single  complaint  against  you  in  connection  therewith. 
Yours  as  ever,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

POSTOFFICE  DEPARTMENT,  Sept.  23,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  note  of  this  date  referring  to  my 
offer  to  resign  whenever  you  would  deem  it  advisable  for  the  public  interest 


THE    ELECTION    OF    1864.  277 

that  I  should  do  so,  and  stating  that  in  your  judgment  that  time  has  come. 
I  now,  therefore,  formally  tender  my  resignation  of  the  office  of  Postmaster- 
General. 

I  cannot  take  leave  of  you  without  renewing  the  expression  of  my  grati 
tude  for  the  uniform  kindness  which  has  marked  your  course  toward  me. 

Yours  truly,  M.  BLAIR. 

To  Ike  President. 

Mr.  Blair's  resignation  was  accepted  by  the  majority  of 
Republicans  throughout  the  North  as  a  "  cleansing  of  the  Cab 
inet,"*  and  party  lines  were  at  once  re-formed.  The  "radicals" 
became  earnest  supporters  of  the  Baltimore  ticket,  no  Republican 
demand  for  a  new  nomination  or  a  second  convention  appeared, 
Mr.  Davis  ceased  his  trenchant  criticisms,  and  Mr.  Wade  took 
the  stump  and  made  a  series  of  exceedingly  effective  speeches  in 
Ohio  and  Pennsylvania.  Military  success  also  came  with  its 
powerful  help.  General  Sherman  crowned  his  campaign  by  the 
capture  of  Atlanta,  General  Grant  drew  the  coils  of  "  the  ana 
conda"  daily  tighter  about  the  rebel  capital,  and  General  Sheri 
dan  fairly  "  swept "  Early  from  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah. 
The  results  of  the  September  elections  had  been  dubious  in 
significance,  but  those  of  October  were  decisive  Republican  vic 
tories  and  preceded  an  overwhelming  triumph  in  November.  Mr. 
Chandler  (who  had  in  1863  taken  an  active  share  in  the  cam 
paigns  in  New  York  and  Illinois,f  Michigan  not  holding  any 
general  election  in  that  year)  returned  from  his  labors  of  media 
tion  to  his  own  State  and  spoke  to  almost  daily  mass  -  meetings 

*  Mr.  Greeley's  comment  in  the  New  York  "Tribune"  was  :  "Precisely  why  Mr.  Lin- 
"coln  thought  this  action  called  for  at  this  moment,  rather  than  at  any  other  time  in  the 
"last  four  months,  we  are  not  told."  This  chapter  shows  that  Mr.  Chandler  could  have 
"told"'  him. 

flf  the  North  had  been  a  unit  the  rebellion  would  long  ago  havo  been  crushed.  But 
the  rebels  found  out  we  were  not  a  unit  at  any  time,  so  they  persevered,  so  they  invaded 
Pennsylvania,  so  they  hoped  to  take  Washington,  and  to  raise  insurrection  all  over  the 
land.  The  only  hope  of  the  South  to-day  is  in  the  traitors  of  the  North.  .  .  .  They  will 
fail  in  the  contest.  Instead  of  having  established  a  slave  empire  they  will  have,  by  their 
own  acts,  destroyed  all  the  securities  that  slavery  ever  possessed.  They  will  have  swept 
away  all  the  compromises  by  which  slavery  has  been  tolerated  by  a  forbearing  people.— 
Senator  Chandler  at  Springfield,  III.,  on  Sept.  7,  1863. 


278  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

in  its  chief  towns  throughout  the  month  of  October.  Michigan 
gave  to  the  Lincoln  electors  a  majority  of  16,917,  and  sent  only 
Republicans  to  the  Thirty -ninth  Congress.  Mr.  Chandler's  con 
tribution  to  this  result  was  not  unimportant,  but  it  was  of 
meagre  value  compared  with  his  labors  upon  a  broader  field  in 
healing  grave  dissensions  and  in  quietly  removing  a  cause  of  dan 
ger  which  was  deeply  founded,  and  which,  although  now  almost 
forgotten,  was  then  of  no  slight  actual  proportions  and  of  very 
serious  possibilities.  It  was  characteristic  of  the  man  that  this 
self  -  prompted  and  successful  service,  one  of  the  greatest  he  ever 
rendered  to  Republicanism,  was  rarely  mentioned  by  him  after 
ward,  and  never  as  if  it  was  more  than  was  due  to  the  cause  of 
his  political  faith  nor  as  if  it  gave  him  any  especial  claim  upon 
the  party  gratitude. 


CHAPTER    XYI. 

THE     ADMINISTRATION     OF     ANDREW     JOHNSON RECONSTRUCTION     AND 

IMPEACHMENT. 

the  evening  of  April  14,  1865,  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
•'  assassinated  at  Ford's  theater  in  the  city  of  Washing 
ton.  The  universal  grief  was  fitly  described  by  Disraeli, 
who  said,  in  the  British  Commons,  that  the  character 
of  the  victim  and  the  circumstances  of  his  death  took  the  event 
"out  of  all  the  pomp  of  history  and  the  ceremonial  of  diplo- 
"  macy ;  it  touched  the  heart  of  nations  and  appealed  to  the 
"domestic  sentiment  of  mankind."  Its  effect  upon  the  Ameri 
can  people  was  profound,  and  it  deepened  vastly  the  public 
appreciation  of  the  essential  barbarity  of  the  prejudices,  passions 
and  ambitions  which  had  plunged  the  republic  into  civil  war. 

The  members  of  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War 
returned  on  the  evening  of  this  crime  from  Richmond,  having 
made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  visit  North  Carolina  for  the  pur 
pose  of  taking  testimony  in  regard  to  the  Fort  Fisher  expedition. 
On  the  following  morning  they  met,  and  addressed  a  formal 
note  to  Andrew  Johnson,  who  had,  while  a  Senator,  served  upon 
that  committee,  expressing  the  wish  of  his  "  old  associates "  to 
call  upon  him  and  acquaint  him  with  "  many  tilings  which  they 
had  seen  and  heard  at  Richmond."  They  were  promptly  admit 
ted  to  his  apartments  at  the  Kirk  wood  House,  and  were  among 
the  first  to  talk  freely  with  the  man  who  had  been  so  tragically 
made  President  of  the  newly -restored  Union.  Mr.  Johnson  had 
just  been  sworn  into  office  by  Chief  Justice  Chase  in  tlio 
presence  of  some  of  the  Cabinet  and  a  few  Congressmen,  and 


280  ZACHARIAII    CHANDLER. 

naturally  the  conversation  chiefly  turned  upon  the  pursuit  of  the 
assassins,  and  the  proper  punishment  of  the  men  who  had 
inspired  or  countenanced  this  crime,  as  well  as  of  its  actual  com- 
mitters.  As  a  sequel  of  this  conference,  an  important  meeting 
was  held  on  the  following  day  (Sunday,  April  16,  1865)  in  the 
President's  rooms.  By  appointment  Senators  Chandler  and  Wade 
and  John  Covode  (an  original  member  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Conduct  of  the  War,  then  a  contestant  for  a  seat  in  the  House) 
called  upon  Mr.  Johnson,  and  proceeded  to  consider  with  him 
what  policy  should  be  pursued  toward  the  chiefs  of  the  con 
quered  rebellion.  They  believed  that  the  public  interest  required 
that  examples  should  be  made  of  a  few  of  the  more  guilty  of 
the  Southern  traitors,  and  urged  such  a  course  upon  the  Presi 
dent.  They  found  him  —  confronted  as  he  was  with  the  danger 
of  assassination,  and  recollecting  his  own  sufferings  as  a  Southern 
Unionist  —  eager  for  measures  of  extreme  rigor,  and  were  com 
pelled  at  the  outset  to  seek  to  moderate  a  violence  of  intention 
on  his  part,  which  was  certain  to  defeat  the  aim  they  were 
anxious  to  secure,  namely:  that  of  impressing  the  public  with  a 
sense  of  the  justice  as  well  as  the  severity  of  the  punishment  of 
deliberate  and  inexcusable  treason.  Andrew  Johnson's  disposition 
was  to  give  to  the  contemplated  proceedings  rather  a  revengeful 
than  a  sternly  retributive  complexion.  The  relations  of  Mr. 
Chandler,  Mr.  Wade  and  Mr.  Covode  with  their  former  fellow- 
committeeman  were  then  exceedingly  intimate,  and  they  labored 
to  restrain  his  vehemence  and  to  direct  his  determination  into  a 
channel  of  action  which  should  be  just  and  not  passionate,  and 
should  thus  yield  wholesome  influences.  It  had  been  suggested 
that  Davis  and  other  fugitive  rebels  should  be  allowed  to  escape 
to  Mexico  or  Europe,  and  the  question  of  their  punishment  thus 
evaded ;  this  plan  was  promptly  condemned  by  all  the  partici 
pants  in  the  conference,  and  there  was  a  general  agreement  that 
the  leaders  of  the  rebellion  should  be  arrested  as  rapidly  as  pos- 


ANDREW    JOHNSON'S    TERM.  281 

sible  and  held  to  answer  for  their  offenses.  The  next  question 
that  arose  related  to  the  best  method  of  procedure  after  these 
men  had  been  captured,  and  then  it  was  decided  than  Gen. 
Benjamin  F.  Butler  should  be  sent  for  to  give  his  advice  as  a 
lawyer.  Mr.  Covode  undertook  this  errand  and  soon  returned 
with  him.  Mr.  Chandler  then  stated  to  General  Butler  the  sub 
ject  of  the  conference,  and  the  President  added  that  he  was 
anxious  to  make  a  historical  example  of  the  leading  traitors,  for 
its  moral  effect  upon  the  future,  and  took  exceedingly  extreme 
ground  on  this  point,  much  more  so  than  the  other  gentlemen 
were  willing  to  approve.  All  of  those  present  expressed  their 
opinions  in  turn,  after  Mr.  Johnson  had  concluded,  and  all  agreed 
upon  one  point,  namely :  that  in  the  case  of  the  seizure  of 
Jefferson  Davis  he  should  be  summarily  punished  by  death.  Mr. 
Chandler  remarked,  with  emphasis  : 

"You  have  only  to  hang  a  few  of  these  traitors  and  all  will 
"be  peace  and  quiet  in  the  South.  A  few  men  have  done  the 
"mischief,  and  the  masses  of  the  people  were  misled  by  them. 
"  They  have  put  the  country  in  great  peril  to  gratify  their 
"  political  ambition  and  they  ought  to  suffer  the  penalty  of 
"  treason  as  a  warning  to  all  men  hereafter." 

To  this  Andrew  Johnson  replied  that  Mr.  Chandler  could 
not  know  the  full  enormity  of  the  crime  Davis  and  his  asso 
ciates  had  committed ,  that  Northern  men  could  never  realize 
the  sufferings  the  rebellion  had  brought  upon  the  loyal  people 
of  the  South,  and  that  no  punishment  could  be  too  severe.  He 
added  that  he  was  determined  that  a  precedent  should  be  estab 
lished  that  would  be  forever  a  terror  to  such  men  as  had  con 
spired  to  overthrow  the  government. 

After  some  further  conversation,  the  President  asked  General 
Butler  for  his  professional  opinion,  as  to  whether  Davis,  Benja 
min,  Floyd,  Wigfall,  and  the  other  civil  officers  of  the  Confed 
eracy,  could  be  tried  by  a  military  commission.  General  Butler 


282  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER 

replied  that  if  they  could  be  arrested  in  the  insurrectionary 
States  —  in  any  locality  under  military  control  and  where  no  civil 
authority  existed  or  was  recognized  —  they  could  be  arraigned 
before  such  a  tribunal,  but  a '  court  of  this  character  would 
have  no  jurisdiction  if  the  criminals  should  get  upon  foreign 
soil,  or,  before  being  apprehended,  reach  any  district  where  the 
civil  law  was  in  force.  Mr.  Chandler  then  urged  that  Davis 
should,  by  all  means,  be  secured  before  he  had  a  chance  to  have 
the  seceded  States ;  and  inquired  as  to  the  situation  of  the  troops 
in  the  South  and  the  probability  of  their  defeating  an  attempt  by 
Davis  to  fly  through  Mexico,  or  by  boat  on  the  Gulf.  President 
Johnson  replied  that  no  way  was  open  for  his  escape,  but  that 
he  would  be  captured,  dead  or  alive.  The  supposition  that  Davis 
was  implicated  in  the  assassination  plot  was  then  discussed  with 
some  difference  of  opinion,  and  finally  the  President  asked  Gen 
eral  Butler  to  indicate  a  plan  for  the  prosecution  and  punish 
ment  of  Davis  and  his  associates,  for  the  use  of  the  government. 
General  Butler  consented  and  the  conference  ended. 

With  the  preparation  of  the  memorandum  thus  requested, 
General  Butler  occupied  almost  his  entire  time  for  several  weeks, 
investigating  precedents,  and  examining  authorities  with  the 
utmost  thoroughness.  During  this  work  he  was  repeatedly  in 
consultation  with  Mr.  Chandler,  who  saw  all  of  his  notes  and 
made  many  suggestions ;  before  its  completion,  Davis  had  been 
captured  and  sent  to  Fortress  Monroe.  General  Butler's  plan 
was  submitted  to  President  Johnson  in  the  latter  part  of  May, 
1865.  It  was  long  and  elaborate,  was  based  upon  an  exhaustive 
examination  of  the  history  of  all  military  tribunals,  and  set  forth 
in  substance  these  propositions : 

1.  That  Davis  could  be  tried  by  a  military  commission,  hav 
ing  been  captured  while  in  rebellion  in  a  locality  where  no 
lawful  civil  authority  existed.  This  tribunal  could  sit  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  where  Davis  was  a  prisoner,  as  that  was  still  within  the 
military  lines. 


ANDREW    JOHNSON'S    TERM.  283 

2.  That  this  commission  should  be  composed  of  the  thirteen 
officers   of   the   highest   rank   in   the  army;   this  provision  would 
have    made    it    consist    of     Lieut.  -  Gen.    U.    S.    Grant ;     Major  - 
Generals    II.   W.   Halleck,    W.   T.  Sherman,    George   G.   Meade, 
Philip  II.  Sheridan,  George  H.  Thomas,   and  Brigadier  -  Generals 
Irwin  McDowell,    Win.  S.  Kosecrans,    Philip    St.  George  Cooke, 
John    Pope,     Joseph    Hooker,     W.    S.    Hancock,    and    John    M. 
Schofield. 

3.  That   in    case  of    conviction,    before   the    sentence    should 
be  executed,  Davis   should  be  allowed   an    opportunity  to   appeal 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of   the  United    States ;    this  would   silence 
criticism,  secure  Davis  all  his    legal  rights,  and  establish  a  prece 
dent  which  might  stand  for  all  time. 

4.  That  the  only  doubt  that  existed  as  to  the  conviction  of 
Davis  was  to  be  found  in  the  question  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
military  commission. 

5.  That    the    prosecution   should   hold  Davis's  assumption  of 
military  authority  against  the  United  States  as    the    overt    act   of 
treason,  and  that  his  military  orders,  his  commissions   of   officers, 
his  official  announcements  of  himself  as  "  commander  -in  -chief  of 
the  military  and  naval  forces  of   the  Confederate  States,"  his  offi 
cial  reviews  of   troops,  the  official  reports  made   to  him   by  com 
manders    of   armies    in    rebellion,  should   be    proven   to    establish 
the  case. 

6.  That  the  record  of   the  oaths  taken  by  him  as    an    officer 
in   the    United    States    army,  as   a    Senator,  and   as    Secretary  of 
War,  should  be  shown  with  evidence  that  lie  had  violated  them. 

7.  That  the  various  acts  of  cruelty  to  prisoners  of  war  com 
mitted    by    his    orders    should    be    proven ;     other    minor    counts 
could  also   be  introduced  in  the  indictment  to  secure  an  accumu 
lation  of  charges. 

General    Butler's    memorandum    further    set    forth    that    the 
prosecution  should  expect  to  be  met  by  the  defense: 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

1.  With  the  question  of  jurisdiction. 

2.  With  an  attempt  to  prove  the  right  of  secession. 

3.  With  the  claim  that  the  duty  of  allegiance  to  a  state  was 
superior  to  the  duty  of  allegiance  to  the  general  government. 

4.  With  the  claim  that  the  acts  of  which  Davis  was  accused 
were  performed    by  him  as  the  head    of   a  de  facto  government, 
to  which  office  he  had  been  elected  under  forms  of  law. 

5.  With  the  further  point  that  the  recognition  of  this  de  facto 
government    by  the  United    States  in  the  exchange  of   prisoners, 
in    the    acceptance   of   terms   of   surrender,  in  the   observance   of 
flags  of  truce,  and  in  correspondence  of   various  kinds,  amounted 
to    such    a    recognition    of   the    existence   of   a  government  with 
which    it   was  at  war,   as    must    prevent  the   United   States  from 
claiming  that  participation  therein  was  treason. 

These  were  the  chief  points  which  General  Butler  thought 
the  defense  would  set  up,  and  in  his  brief  he  grouped  a  power 
ful  array  of  precedents  and  decisions  upon  which  the  prosecution 
could  rest  its  case  and  meet  these  objections.  Daring  the  early 
stages  of  this  work,  Mr.  Chandler,  General  Butler  and  others, 
who  firmly  held  that  stern  punishment  should  be  meted  out  to  a 
few  conspicuous  rebels  —  not  in  a  spirit  of  vengeance,  but  from 
a  belief  that  salutary  results  would  follow  if  it  should  be  estab 
lished  as  a  historical  fact  that  in  the  United  States  treason  is  a 
high  crime  whose  penalty  is  death  —  were  constantly  anxious 
lest  the  President  should  by  some  violent  act  or  word  destroy 
the  moral  effect  of  their  position.  In  public  he  said  repeat 
edly  at  this  time  that  "the  penalties  of  the  law  must  be  in  a 
"stern  and  inflexible  manner  executed  upon  conscious,  intelligent 
"and  influential  traitors,"  but  his  private  uttterances  far  out 
stripped  this  language,  and  were  often  scarcely  less  than  blood 
thirsty.  Mr.  Chandler,  on  one  occasion,  came  away  from  the 
White  House  greatly  disturbed  by  Mr.  Johnson's  disposition  to 
treat  this  subject  with  mere  anger,  and  characteristically  said  to 


ANDREW  JOHNSON'S    TERM.  285 

Senator  Wade  and  Mr.  Hamiin,  "  Johnson  has  the  nightmare,  and 
it  is  important  that  he  should  be  watched."  General  Butler's 
memorandum  Mr.  Chandler  heartily  approved  as  clear  in  scope, 
just  in  spirit,  and  certain  to  prove  effective  in  operation,  but,  by 
the  time  it  was  fully  completed,  a  great  change  had  taken  place 
in  the  disposition  of  the  President.  In  April  he  was  in  favor 
of  hanging  every  body;  in  June  lie  was  opposed  to  hanging  any 
one.  He  finally  ignored  entirely  the  memorandum  which  Gen 
eral  Butler  had  drawn  up  at  his  request,  and  decided  that  Davis 
should  be  tried  by  the  civil  authorities  at  Richmond,  where  his 
crimes  had  been  committed.  As  a  result  the  arch  -  rebel  was 
allowed  to  remain  in  prison  at  Fortress  Monroe  for  nearly  two 
years,  because  of  the  lack  of  a  civil  court  competent  to  take 
jurisdiction  of  his  case.  In  1866  he  was  indicted  and  arraigned, 
and  in  1867  was  admitted  to  bail;  a  year  later  a  nolle  prosequi 
was  entered,  and  the  case  against  him  dismissed.  Before  this 
matter  had  reached  its  second  stage  even,  Mr.  Chandler  had 
become  convinced  that  Andrew  Johnson  had  determined  to 
desert  the  party  which  had  elevated  him  to  the  vice  -  presidency, 
and  with  that  knowledge  ceased  to  act  as  his  adviser  and  became 
one  of  the  most  active  of  his  political  enemies.  The  leniency  of 
the  course  finally  pursued  toward  Davis  Mr.  Chandler  then  and 
afterward  regarded  a",  a  grave  public  mistake,  and  believed  that 
the  failure  to  enforce  the  death  penalty  where  it  was  so 
thoroughly  deserved  was  exceedingly  unfortunate  in  its  influence 
upon  popular  opinion,  and  did  more  than  any  other  one  cause 
to  encourage  the  disloyal  classes  of  the  South  in  their  plans  for 
ultimately  recapturing  the  political  supremacy  they  had  forfeited 
by  rebellion. 

Precisely  the  causes  which  led  Andrew  Johnson  so  quickly 
back  into  close  fellowship  with  the  men  whom  he  had  regarded 
as  his  inveterate  enemies  will  never  be  known.  It  is  probable 
that  originally  they  were  slight,  but  his  temperament  rapidly 


286  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

widened  disagreement  into  irreconcilable  hostility.  His  maudlin 
speech  on  Inauguration  -  day  so  incensed  many  of  his  supporters 
that  the  Republican  senators,  at  a  formal  gathering,  actually  con 
sidered  a  proposition  ( urged  by  Mr.  Sumner )  to  request  him  to 
resign  the  office  he  had  disgraced.  The  conference  decided 
against  such  a  step,  but  Mr.  Johnson  heard  of  the  movement, 
and  regarded  those  who  approved  it  with  much  bitterness;  his 
hatred  of  them  undoubtedly  fed  his  growing  dislike  for  the 
party  of  which  they  were  influential  leaders.  Again,  lie  was  a 
thorough  representative  of  the  "poor  whites"  of  the  South.  He 
felt  their  jealousy  of  the  planting  aristocracy  which  monopolized 
political  power  in  his  section,  and  this  made  him  such  a  vigorous 
opponent  of  the  secession  conspiracy  which  that  oligarchy  organ 
ized  and  led.  But  he  also  shared  in  the  prejudice  of  his  own 
class  against  the  negroes,  and,  when  he  saw  the  disposition  of 
the  Republicans  to  accord  to  the  freedmen  equal  rights  and 
privileges  before  the  law,  he  refused  to  join  in  that  movement 
and  set  doggedly  about  defeating  such  plans.  Precisely  how 
great  Mr.  Seward's  influence  over  him  was  at  this  time  is  not 
clear,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  change  in  his  attitude  toward 
Republicanism  was  simultaneous  with  the  slow  recovery  of  his 
Secretary  of  State  from  the  blows  of  Payne's  dagger.  His 
combative  obstinacy  also  made  him  fiercely  resent  the  vigorous 
criticisms  which  his  "  policy  "  of  reconstruction  invited  when  first 
announced ;  Congress  did  not  meet  for  months  after  his  accession 
to  the  presidency,  and  its  leaders  were  not  in  position  to  check 
his  course,  either  by  organized  remonstrance  or  by  legislative 
interposition ;  the  rebels  who  had  been  denouncing  him  savagely 
were  prompt  to  flatter  his  vanity  and  to  offer  promises  of  sup 
port ;  and,  as  a  result,  when  the  Thirty --ninth  Congress  met  on 
December  4,  1865,  the  break  between  the  President  and  the 
Republican  party  had  passed  beyond  mending.  Mr.  Johnson 
entered  at  once  upon  that  shametul  course,  which  included  the 


ANDREW    JOHNSON'S    TERM.  287 

betrayal  of  those  who  had  trusted  him  and  the  disgrace  of  his 
high  office  by  lamentable  public  exhibitions  of  passion  and  boor- 
ishness,  and  which  led  to  great  and  durable  public  injury  by 
trebling  the  difficulties  surrounding  the  delicate  and  important 
work  of  reconstructing  the  "  Confederacy."  Mr.  Chandler's  dis 
trust  of  the  President  commenced  with  his  change  of  tone  in 
regard  to  the  punishment  of  treason  and  with  the  first  manifes 
tation  of  his  intention  to  assume  full  control  of  reconstruction 
and  to  practically  restore  the  rebels  to  power  in  the  subdued 
States.  They  had  one  stormy  interview  at  the  White  House,  in 
which  Mr.  Chandler,  a^ter  touching  upon  the  implicit  character 
of  his  confidence  in  the  President  during  their  senatorial  service, 
denounced  his  new  course  as  a  violation  of  his  sacred  pledges 
and  a  base  surrender  to  traitors,  and  left  him  indignantly  and 
forever.  From  that  time  he  regarded  Andrew  Johnson  as  a 

o 

public  enemy,  whose  opportunities  for  evil  were  to  be  lessened 
by  every  possible  lawful  restriction.  He  did  not  oppose  the 
efforts  made  by  his  more  hopeful  associates  in  December,  1.805, 
to  re-establish  harmony  between  the  Capitol  and  the  White 
House,  but  he  predicted  their  failure.  All  the  legislation  which 
diminished  Johnson's  power  for  harm  he  ardently  supported.  The 
bills  to  admit  Nebraska  and  Colorado  (the  Colorado  bill  failed  at 
this  time )  he  was  especially  active  in  pushing,  from  a  belief  that 
it  was  important  to  increase  the  Republican  ascendency  in  the 
Senate  while  there  was  an  uncertainty  as  to  how  much  strength 
the  "Johnson  men"  proper  (Senators  Doolittle,  Dixon,  .Norton, 
and  Cowan)  might  develop.  It  was  largely  through  Mr.  Chand 
ler's  untiring  exertions,  also,  that  the  Fortieth  Senate  elected 
Benjamin  F.  Wade  as  its  President,  and  thus  made  him  the 
acting  Yice  -  President  of  the  United  States,  a  position  of  the 
very  highest  responsibility  in  the  then  critical  state  of  national 
affairs. 

Mr.  Chandler  aided  in  shaping  and  passing  the  reconstruction 
measures  of  1800 -'(57 -'OS,  not  for  the  reason   that  they  precisely 


288  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

embodied  his  ideas  of  the  true  method  to  be  pursued,  but 
because  they  presented  a  plan  upon  which  the  Republicans 
could  be  united,  which  was  practicable,  and  which  promised  to 
reorganize  the  Southern  States  on  the  basis  of  the  supremacy 
of  the  loyal  elements  in  their  population.  When  Andrew  John 
son  took  the  first  step  in  unfolding  his  "policy"  (by  his  general 
amnesty  proclamation  and  by  the  appointment  of  a  provisional 
governor  for  North  Carolina,  both  acts  bearing  the  date  of  May 
29,  1865  )  the  "  Confederacy "  had  ceased  to  exist,  its  chieftain 
was  a  captive,  its  armies  were  prisoners  of  war  on  parole,  its 
capacity  for  resistance  had  been  consumed  in  the  furnace  of 
battle,  but  its  bitterness  still  glowed  and  the  prejudices  and 
ambitions  which  gave  it  being  were  undestroyed.  The  amnesty 
proclamation  relieved,  with  a  few  exceptions,  those  who  bore 
arms  against  the  government  and  the  most  virulent  supporters  of 
rebellion  who  remained  at  home  from  all  pains  and  penalties  on 
the  sole  condition  that  they  should  subscribe  to  an  oath  of 
future  loyalty.  The  provisional  government  proclamations  per 
mitted  all  persons  thus  amnestied,  who  were  voters  according  to 
laws  of  the  States  previous  to  the  rebellion,  to  elect  delegates 
to  conventions  to  amend  the  local  constitutions  and  restore  the 
States  to  their  "constitutional  relations  with  the  federal  govern 
ment."  By  this  process  the  loyal  colored  men  of  the  South 
were  denied  the  right  to  participate  in  the  work  of  reconstruc 
tion  and  the  entire  machinery  of  reorganization  was  placed  in 
the  control  of  men  whose  hands  were  yet  red  with  Union  blood. 
Their  discretion  was  only  hampered  by  three  conditions,  compli 
ance  with  which  was  made  essential  to  the  presidential  approval 
of  their  work.  They  were  required  to  annul  the  secession  ordi 
nances,  to  formally  recognize  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  to 
repudiate  all  debts  created  to  promote  rebellion.  Beyond  this, 
the  disloyal  classes  of  the  South  were  left  in  undisputed  mastery 
of  the  situation.  The  control  of  the  insurgent  States,  and  of  the 


ANDREW  JOHNSON'S  TERM.  289 

lives  and  fortunes  of  the  loyalists,  white  and  black,  were  surren 
dered  absolutely  to  the  men  who  but  a  few  weeks  before  had 
been  wrecked  in  the  catastrophe  which  overwhelmed  the  rebell 
ion.  That  they  were  prompt  to  improve  this  unexpected,  unde 
served  and  mistaken  leniency  need  not  be  said.  Their  use  of 
their  new  power  was  both  presumptuous  and  intolerant.  In 
elections,  which  proscribed  Union  men  as  unworthy  of  trust,  con 
ventions  were  chosen  which  accepted  ungraciously  the  mere  fact 
of  emancipation,  and  which  repudiated  the  rebel  debts  only  under 
repeated  presidential  compulsion.  State  governments  were  then 
organized,  which  placed  men  whose  disloyalty  had  been  conspic 
uous  in  responsible  positions,  and  which  sent  unamnestied  leaders 
of  the  rebellion  in  the  field  and.  in  council  to  Washington  as 
claimants  of  Congressional  seats.  The  State  legislation  which  fol 
lowed  embodied  in  shameful  laws  the  unquenched  diabolism  of 
the  slave  power.  In  statutory  phraseology  these  enactments 
declared,  "  politically  and  socially  this  is  a  white  man's  govern 
ment,"  and,  impudently  asserting  that  Congress  was  without  any 
power  over  the  matter,  the  men  who  had,  in  form,  admitted  the 
death  of  slavery  proceeded  to  establish  peonage  in  its  stead.  ISTo 
body  of  laws  adopted  by  any  civilized  nation  in  this  century  has 
equaled  in  studied  injustice  and  cruelty  those  by  which  the 
"Johnson  governments"  of  1805  and  1806  sought  to  prevent  the 
freedmen  from  rising  from  the  level  of  admitted  and  hopeless 
inferiority,  and  to  convince  the  blacks  that  in  ceasing  to  be  slaves 
they  had  only  become  serfs.  Colored  people  were  denied  the  right 
to  acquire  or  dispose  of  public  property.  It  was  made  a  crime  for 
a  negro  to  enter  a  plantation  without  the  consent  of  its  owner 
or  agent.  Freedmen  were  declared  vagrants,  and  punished  as 
such  for  preaching  the  gospel  without  a  license  from  some  regu 
larly  organized  church.  Colored  men  failing  to  pay  capitation 
tax  were  declared  vagrants  and  the  sale  of  their  services  was  per 
mitted  as  a  penalty.  Black  persons  were  prohibited  from  renting 
10 


290  ZACHARIAH   CHANDLER 

or  leasing  lands  except  in  incorporated  towns  or  villages.  Their 
owning  or  bearing  arms  was  declared  to  be  a  violation  of  the 
peace.  For  a  negro  to  break  a  labor  contract  was  made  an 
offense  punishable  by  imprisonment.  Colored  laborers  on  farms 
were  prohibited  from  selling  poultry  or  farm  products,  and  it 
was  made  a  misdemeanor  to  purchase  from  them.  This  class 
was  also  denied  the  right  of  forming  part  of  the  militia,  and  it 
was  made  an  offense  for  any  freedman  to  enter  a  religious  or 
other  assembly  of  whites,  or  go  with  them  into  any  rail  car  or 
public  conveyance.  White  persons  "usually  associating  them 
selves  with  freedmen,  free  negroes,  or  mulattoes"  were  also 
declared  to  be  vagrants  in  the  eye  of  the  law.  The  colored  peo 
ple  were  prohibited  from  practicing  any  art,  trade  or  business 
except  husbandry,  without  special  license  from  the  courts.  And 
most  infamous  of  all  were  the  statutes  for  the  compulsory 
apprenticeship  of  colored  children  with  or  without  the  consent 
of  parents,  which  practically  re  -  established  over  the  next  gener 
ation  of  the  freed  people  slavery  with  the  whipping  -  post  and 
overseer's  lash.  One  State  by  joint  resolution  tendered  thanks 
to  Jefferson  Da\7is  "for  the  noble  and  patriotic  manner  in  which 
"he  ctnducted  the  affairs  of  our  government  while  President  of 
"the  Confederacy,"  and  other  resolutions  were  adopted  declaring 
that  "  nothing  more  is  required  for  the  restoration  of  law  and 
order  but  the  withdrawal  of  federal  bayonets."  [The  fell  spirit 
and  tendency  of  the  reaction  which  was  thus  revealed  found  still 
more  significant  expression  in  the  revolting  butchery  in  and 
around  the  Mechanic's  Institute  of  New  Orleans  on  the  30th  of 
July,  1866.]  Some  of  these  infamous  measures  were  adopted  in  all 
the  insurrectionary'  States,  others  in  only  some  of  them,  but 
without  exception  the  new  Southern  governments  which  Andrew 
Johnson's  "  policy "  created  were  founded  upon  the  traditions 
of  the  slave  system  and  the  memories  of  "the  lost  cause."  The 
objection  that  the  President  had,  in  thus  taking  the  work  of 


ANDREW    JOHNSON'S    TERM.  291 

reconstruction  into  his  own  hands,  usurped  authority  devolved 
upon  Congress  by  the  constitution,  was  a  strong  one,  but  it 
received  but  little  popular  attention.  Anger  at  the  results  of 
that  "policy"  obscured  the  mere  disapproval  of  its  methods. 
When  it  was  seen  that  the  rebellion  had  merely  changed  its 
theater  of  action,  and  that  what  it  lost  on  the  battle-field  it 
proposed  to  secure  by  legislation,  there  wTas  but  one  opinion 
among  the  masses  of  the  people  who  had  heartily  supported  the 
war  and  were  sincerely  anxious  to  preserve  its  fruits.  Their 
emphatic  demand  was  that  the  illegal  and  reactionary  governments 
set  up  by  the  President  should  be  overturned,  and  the  South 
reconstructed  in  the  interests  of  loyalty  and  liberty.  Congress, 
as  part  of  its  stubborn  contest  with  Andrew  Johnson,  undertook 
this  work.  It  refused  to  recognize  the  pretended  State  govern 
ments  or  to  admit  their  Congressmen.  It  divided  the  territory 
of  the  conquered  States  into  five  military  districts,  and  placed  it 
under  the  control  of  the  army  until  a  juster  system  of  recon 
struction  could  be  applied.  It  then  provided  that  in  the  calling 
of  conventions  to  frame  new  constitutions  colored  men  should  be 
permitted  to  vote ;  that  those  revised  instruments  must  confer 
the  elective  franchise  upon  all  loyal  colored  people  and  all 
whites  not  disfranchised  for  rebellion  ;  that  the  work  of  the  con 
ventions  must  be  submitted  to  the  colored  and  white  people  not 
disfranchised  for  approval ;  that  the  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth 
Amendments  to  the  national  constitution  must  be  ratified ;  and 
that  the  State  constitutions  so  adopted  must  be  submitted  to  and 
accepted  by  Congress.  Upon  this  general  plan  the  South  was 
reconstructed,  not  without  much  friction,  not  wholly  to  the  satis 
faction  of  the  men  who  marked  out  this  course  of  procedure, 
but  with  the  faith  (or  at  least  the  trust)  on  their  part  that  it 
would  restore  that  section  to  the  Union  with  genuinely  free 
institutions,  that  it  would  protect  the  emancipated  slave  in  his 
rights,  and  that  it  would  substitute  for  disloyal  communities 


292  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

States  controlled  by  those  whose  interests  and  traditions  lay  with 
the  national  cause.  The  reconstruction  laws  were  not  vengeful 
in  character ;  the  aim  of  the  men  who  passed  them  was  not 
retaliation,  not  even  retribution  except  in  so  far  as  the  applica 
tion  of  mild  penalties  to  treason  might  increase  the  security  of 
the  future.  To  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  terrible  struggle 
which  had  just  closed  was  the  aim;  that  a  political  system  had 
been  devised,  which  both  recognized  human  rights,  and  by  its 
natural  operations  would  exclude  from  political  power  the  men 
who  had  plunged  the  country  into  civil  war,  was  the  hope. 
Within  ten  years  the  scheme  failed  utterly,  and  what  it  wras 
designed  to  prevent  had  been  accomplished  upon  its  ruins.  No 
body  of  laws  can  maintain  itself  in  the  face  of  organized  mur 
der  and  terrorism  which  authority  refuses  to  either  punish  or 
prevent. 

The  reconstruction  measures,  while  they  commanded  Mr. 
Chandler's  general  assent,  were  laxer  in  details  than  he  would 
have  made  them.  He  felt,  as  Thaddeus  Stevens  said,  that  much 
that  they  ought  to  have  contained  wTas  "defeated  by  the  united 
"'forces  of  self-righteous  Republicans  and  unrighteous  Copper- 
"  heads,''  but  held  that  the  bills  which  were  passed  deserved  sup 
port  as  a  whole  on  the  ground  that  it  wTas  not  wise  to  "  throw 
away  a  great  good  because  it  is  not  perfect."  Schuyler  Col- 
fax  closed  one  of  his  speeches  upon  this  subject  as  follows : 
"  Loyalty  must  govern  wrhat  loyalty  preserved."  Mr.  Chandler 
complimented  him  warmly  and  said,  "  You  got  it  all  into  one 
sentence,"  and  that  doctrine  and  the  belief  in  equal  rights  for 
citizens  of  every  color  guided  his  share  of  the  work  upon  all 
measures  affecting  reconstruction.  His  chief  regret  was  that  the 
process  of  this  reorganization  wras  not  prolonged  until  the  loyal 
sentiment  of  the  South  had  become  strong  enough  and  intelli 
gent  enough  to  maintain  itself.  If  his  wishes  had  prevailed,  the 
provisional  governing  of  that  section  would  have  been  continued 


ANDREW    JOHNSON'S    TERM. 

until  the  education  of  the  blacks,  the  death  of  the  rebel  leaders, 
and  the  extinguishment  by  time  of  the  prejudices  and  animosi 
ties  of  the  war  had  accomplished  such  a  wholesome  revolution 
in  sentiment  throughout  that  section  as  would  in  itself  have  been 
a  loyal  and  durable  reconstruction.  As  this  was  not  possible,  he 
spared  no  effort  to  make  successful  the  experiment  which  was 
attempted ;  if  others  had  been  as  resolute  and  faithful  as  he,  it 
would  not  have  failed.  He  did  not  share  in  the  disposition  of 
so  many  Republicans  to  abandon  what  had  been  just  commenced 
because  of  the  imperfection  of  its  first  fruits.  He  stood  man 
fully  for  the  maintenance  by  Northern  opinion  and  by  the  aid 
of  the  United  States  of  the  loyal  State  governments  of  the 
South,  not  claiming  they  were  faultless,  but  because  they  were 
based  on  justice  and  were  far  better  than  that  which  would  take 
their  place  if  they  fell.  When  they  were  assailed  by  assassina 
tion,  by  massacre,  and  by  systematic  terrorizing,  he  believed  that 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  general  government  to  use  all  its  author 
ity  and  all  its  force  to  protect  its  citizens  in  their  rights  and  to 
prevent  the  harvesting  by  unpunished  traitors  of  the  fruits  of 
atrocities  as  brutal  and  bloody  as  Saint  Bartholomew.  The  policy 
of  political  murder  triumphed  finally  at  the  South,  not  through 
any  weakness  of  such  men  as  he,  nor  through  any  failure  upon 
his  part  to  denounce  that  vast  crime.  He  labored  strenuously  to 
kindle  Northern  opinion  into  such  a  flame  of  just  wrath  as 
would  have  made  impossible  that  victory  of  organized  brutality. 
Mr.  Chandler  was  often  described  by  political  opponents  as 
<k  the  relentless  enemy  of  the  South ; "  nothing  was  farther  from 
the  fact.  That  small  minority  of  the  Southern  people,  who 
ruled  that  section  with  oligarchical  power  before  and  during 
the  war,  who  organized  and  led  the  rebellion,  and  who  have 
now  regained  supremacy  by  outrage  and  murder,  he  always  dis 
trusted  and  attacked.  But  the  great  majority  of  the  people  of 
the  South  —  the  blacks  whom  those  men  rob  of  their  rights  and 


294:  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

the  whites  whom  they  mislead — he  profoundly  pitied,  and  their 
cause  he  espoused.  For  them  he  demanded  equal  rights  before 
the  law,  a  free  ballot  box,  the  common  school,  and  an  oppor 
tunity  to  prove  their  manhood.  Those  who  resisted  a  policy  so 
just  and  civilizing  he  was  quick  to  denounce  in  unstinted  terms, 
and  upon  them  he  did  not  waste  conciliation.  They  —  not  "the 
South"  —  found  him  the  inappeasable,  but  still  "the  avowed,  the 
erect,  the  manly  foe." 

In  the  elections  of  1866  the  issues  were  chiefly  those  con 
nected  with  reconstruction,  and  Mr.  Chandler  as  usual  spoke  in 
his  own  and  other  "Western  States,  exposing  the  malign  results 
of  Mr.  Johnson's  "  policy  "  and  in  advocacy  of  the  Congressional 
plan  and  the  Fourteenth  Amendment.  The  general  tenor  of  his 
speeches  will  appear  from  this  extract  from  an  address  delivered 
at  Detroit,  at  the  close  of  the  political  campaign : 

These  perjured  traitors  are  permitted  to  live  here,  but  we  say  to  them 
they  can  never  again  hold  office  unless  Congress  by  a  two -thirds  vote  shall 
remove  the  disability  ;  why,  a  man  who  has  committed  perjury  alone,  right 
here  in  Michigan,  you  would  not  allow  to  testify  before  a  justice  of  the 
peace  in  the  most  petty  case.  But  we  forget  the  perjury  of  the  rebels 
which  would  send  them  to  the  State  prison,  we  forget  the  hanging  which 
follows  treason,  and  say  to  them  simply,  that  for  the  future  they  can  never 
hold  office.  Personally  I  am  not  in  favor  of  the  last  clause  of  this  section 
which  gives  Congress  the  power  to  remove  this  disability  by  a  two -thirds 
vote.  I  would  have  let  this  race  of  perjured  traitors  die  out,  out  of  office, 
and  educate  the  rising  generation  to  loyalty.  But  it  is  in  the  amendment 
and  I  advocate  its  adoption  as  it  is. 

Often  during  the  progress  of  the  obstinate  struggle  between 
Andrew  Johnson  and  Congress  his  attempts  to  evade  law  and 
his  encroachments  upon  the  powers  vested  in  the  legislative 
branch  of  the  government  led  to  the  serious  consideration  in  the 
House  of  .Representatives  of  the  question  of  impeachment.  Sev- 
earl  resolutions  ordering  the  preferring  of  charges  against  him  at 
the  bar  of  the  Senate  were  presented  without  action,  but  on  the 
7th  of  January,  1867,  the  Hon.  J.  M.  Ashley  of  Ohio  offered 


ANDREW    JOHNSON'S  TERM.  295 

a  preamble,  beginning,  "  I  do  impeach  Andrew  Johnson,  Yice  - 
"  President  and  acting  President  of  the  United  States,  of  high 
"crimes  and  misdemeanors.  I  charge  him  with  usurpation  of 
"power  and  violation  of  law  in  that  he  has  corruptly  used  the 
"appointing  power;  .  .  .  corruptly  used  the  pardoning 
"power;  .  .  .  corruptly  used  the  veto  power; 
"corruptly  disposed  of  public  property;  .  .  .  and  corruptly 
"  interfered  in  elections."  With  this  preamble  was  a  resolution 
referring  the  charges  to  the  Judiciary  Committee  to  inquire  if 
the  President  had  been  guilty  of  acts  which  were  "calculated  to 
overthrow,  subvert  or  corrupt  the  government."  By  a  vote  of 
108  yeas  to  39  nays  this  reference  was  ordered,  but  no  report 
was  made  until  November  25,  1867,  and  then  a  resolution  of 
impeachment  was  submitted  by  Mr.  Boutwell  in  behalf  of 
the  majority  of  the  committee.  On  December  7,  this  resolution 
was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  57  to  108.  Encouraged  by  this  result 
Mr.  Johnson,  who  had  suspended  Edwin  M.  Stanton  from  the 
Secretaryship  of  War  during  the  Congressional  recess  of  1867, 
and  whose  action  had  been  disapproved  by  the  Senate  under  the 
Tenure  of  Civil  Office  act,  undertook  to  force  Mr.  Stanton  out 
by  a  second  suspension  on  February  21,  1868,  accompanied  by 
an  order  appointing  Gen.  Lorenzo  Thomas  Secretary  ad  interim. 
Mr.  Stanton  declined  to  acknowledge  the  President's  power  to 
take  this  step,  refused  to  give  place  to  General  Thomas,  and  for 
many  days  and  nights  remained  in  constant  occupation  of  the 
department  offices.  The  House  of  Kepresentatives  at  once 
arraigned  the  President  before  the  Senate  for  this  attempted 
violation  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  act,  and  his  trial  followed. 
Chief  Justice  Chase  presided ;  the  proceedings  lasted  from  Feb 
ruary  25  until  May  26,  1868 ;  and  in  the  end  Mr.  Johnson  was 
acquitted,  exactly  the  number  of  Republican  Senators  necessary 
to  defeat  conviction  voting  with  the  Democratic  minority. 
These  proceedings  Mr.  Chandler  watched  with  the  liveliest 


296  ZACHAIUAH    CHANDLER. 

interest,  and  the  failure  of  the  impeachment  was  one  of  the 
most  bitter  disappointments  of  his  political  career.  He  sincerely 
believed  that  Johnson's  course  fully  merited  a  verdict  of 
"  guilty,"  and  he  felt  that  the  great  difficulties  surrounding  the 
problem  of  the  loyal  reconstruction  of  the  South  would  disap 
pear  if  the  executive  department  of  the  government  was  admin 
istered  with  the  Jacksonian  vigor  and  patriotism  of  Benjamin  F. 
Wade.  Mr.  Stanton's  refusal  to  permit  the  President  to  displace 
him  without  the  consent  of  the  Senate  he  endorsed  with  the 
utmost  heartiness,  and,  while  the  Secretary  remained  in  his  office 
to  prevent  its  seizure  by  Mr.  Johnson's  ad  interim  appointee,  Mr. 
Chandler  spent  night  after  night  with  him,  and  did  all  that  was 
possible  to  strengthen  his  resolution  and  to  lighten  his  volun 
tary  confinement.  On  one  occasion,  when  there  were  signs  of  an 
intention  on  the  part  of  the  claimant  to  use  force,  Mr.  Chand 
ler,  General  Logan,  and  a  few  others  gathered  together  about 
a  hundred  trusty  men,  who  occupied  the  basement  of  the  depart 
ment,  and  there  did  garrison  duty  until  the  danger  was  past. 
During  Johnson's  trial  Mr.  Chandler  was  not  forgetful  of  his 
position  as  a  judge,  and  was  an  attentive  listener  to  the  evidence 
and  the  arguments  before  and  in  the  court  of  impeachment. 
He  was  restive  under  the  length  of  the  proceedings,  however, 
and  did  advise  the  managers  on  the  part  of  the  House  to  push 
the  case  along  as  rapidly  as  possible,  urging  that  the  public 
interest  required  the  ending  of  the  general  suspense.  He  felt 
then,  and  said  afterward,  that  the  delay  was  used  to  effect  com 
binations  with,  and  apply  pressure  to,  individual  Senators,  which 
would  induce  them  to  favor  acquittal.  That  this  was  done  he 
never  doubted,  and  he  repeatedly  denounced  in  the  strongest 
terms,  both  in  public  and  private,  the  action  of  the  seven 
Republicans  (Senators  Fessenden,  Trumbull,  Grimes,  Henderson, 
Fowler,  Ross  and  Van  Winkle)  who  voted  "not  guilty"  with 
the  Democrats  and  the  "  Johnson  men."  He  was  especially 


ANDREW  JOHNSON'S    TERM.  297 

indignant  at  the  course  of  Mr.  Fessenden  and  Mr.  Trumbull, 
and  on  several  occasions  in  after  years  came  into  sharp  personal 
collision  with  them  during  the  Senate  debates.  The  final  failure 
of  the  impeachment  movement  he  felt  as  a  blow.  One  who 
knew  him  well  has  said :  "  He  believed  that  republican  govern- 
"  ment  was  at  stake  and  impeachment  a  necessity.  Never  was 
"  there  a  time  when  he  came  so  near  despairing  of  the  republic 
"as  at  that  event." 

The  Thirty -ninth  and  Fortieth  Congresses  remained  in 
nearly  continuous  session  for  over  three  years  "watching  the 
White  House."  Outside  of  the  exciting  political  topics  which 
received  so  large  a  share  of  their  attention,  they  were  com 
pelled  to  deal  with  important  financial,  commercial  and  material 
questions  affecting  vitally  the  general  interest.  The  currency  and 
public  debt  demanded  simplification ;  the  tax  system  was  to  be 
changed  from  a  war  to  a  peace  footing ;  the  commercial  wrecks 
of  many  years  called  for  a  bankrupt  law;  bounties  were  to  be 
equalized,  pensions  provided,  and  war  claims  adjusted  on  wise 
bases ;  neglected  internal  improvements  clamored  for  renovation 
and  extension ;  the  ocean  commerce  required  national  care ;  and 
innumerable  minor  interests,  long  neglected  under  the  stress  of 
civil  war,  needed  instant  attention.  Mr.  Chandler  worked  with 
characteristic  energy  and  practical  wisdom  in  all  these  branches 
of  legislative  activity,  and  rendered  public  services  of  varied  and 
permanent  usefulness. 


CHAPTEE    XYII. 

THE    PRESIDENCY     OF     GENERAL     GRANT THE     REPUBLICAN     CONGRES 
SIONAL     COMMITTEE. 

the  presidential  election  of  1868  Mr.  Chandler  was 
even  more  than  usually  active,  both  as  an  organizer  and 
speaker.  He  delivered  nearly  forty  addresses  in  his  own 
State,  which  gave  to  the  Grant  and  Coif  ax  ticket  31,492 
majority,  and  elected  a  Republican  Congressman  in  each  of  its 
six  districts.  The  Legislature  chosen  at  the  same  time  had  66 
Republican  majority  upon  joint  ballot,  and  re-elected  Mr.  Chand 
ler  for  his  third  Senatorial  term,  the  Democratic  vote  being  cast 
lor  the  Hon.  Sanford  M.  Green  of  Bay  City.  In  the  Republi 
can  caucus  there  was  practically  no  opposition  to  Mr.  Chandler's 
renominatioii,  and  he  received  on  the  first  and  only  ballot  78 
votes,  13  other  ballots  being  cast  for  seven  gentlemen  by  way  of 
personal  compliment.  The  inauguration  of  President  Grant,  on 
March  4,  1869,  renewed  Mr  Chandler's  influence  with  the  execu 
tive  branch  of  the  government,  and  the  political  and  personal 
friendship  between  him  and  the  modest,  resolute,  and  illustrious 
soldier  who  succeeded  Andrew  Johnson  grew  mutually  stronger 
and  more  appreciative  from  that  day. 

Very  much  of  the  legislation  of  President  Grant's  first  term, 
which  received  Mr.  Chandler's  vigilant  attention  and  absorbed  no 
small  share  of  his  energy,  related  to  the  details  of  the  public 
business,  and  furnishes  no  biographical  material  of  permanent 
interest.  He  supported  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  in  all  its  stages, 
and  also  the  Civil  Rights  bills,  which  he  regarded  as  incomplete, 


THIRD    SENATORIAL    TERM.  299 

but  still  as  the  taking  of  steps  in  the  direction  of  justice.*  It 
was  his  firm  purpose  to  contribute  his  share  toward  making 
American  citizenship  mean  something,  for  both  black  and  white, 
and,  if  life  was  spared,  to  cease  not  his  labors  until  the  humblest 
freeman  in  the  United  States  should  be  in  firm  possession  of 
every  natural  and  constitutional  right,  should  have  free  access  to 
an  honest  ballot-box,  should  suffer  no  proscription  for  his  polit 
ical  opinions,  and  should  be  amply  protected  in  his  liberty  to 
think,  say,  go,  and  do  as  he  pleased  within  the  limitations  laid 
down  by  law  for  the  regulation  of  the  conduct  of  all.  The  bat 
tle,  in-  which  he  was  so  eager  and  stalwart  a  leader,  will  not  be 
finished  until  that  result  is  forever  secured. 

Early  in  General  Grant's  term  the  friends  of  Edwin  M. 
Stanton  determined  to  secure  for  him  such  an  official  appoint 
ment  as  should  be  congenial  to  his  tastes  and  guarantee  him  an 
adequate  support  in  old  age.  His  iron  constitution  resisted  the 
enormous  labors  of  the  civil  war  successfully.  For  many  months 
he  worked  from  fifteen  to  twenty  hours  in  each  day ;  his  assist 
ant  secretaries  were  energetic  and  trained  men  of  affairs,  but 
their  strength  successively  gave  way  in  attempting  to  keep  up 
with  their  chief.  When  the  strain  was  finally  withdrawn,  it  was 
perceived  that  his  own  powers  were  greatly  exhausted.  Eest 
restored  their  tone  somewhat,  and  he  made  one  or  two  legal 
arguments  and  public  addresses,  which  showed  that  his  intellect 
ual  vigor  was  undiminished,  but  these  efforts  were  followed  by 
extreme  nervous  prostration.  Under  these  circumstances,  Mr. 
Stanton's  friends  determined  to  secure  for  him  a  judicial 
appointment.  For  such  a  position  he  was  qualified  by  eminent 
professional  attainments,  and  this^  fact  and  the  permanency  of 

*  To  a  letter  of  confidence  and  congratulation,  written  to  him  at  the  time  of  his  last 
Senatorial  election,  by  a  committee  of  the  colored  citizens  of  East  Saginaw,  Mich ,  Mr. 
Chandler  replied  (under  date  of  Feb.  20,  1879) ;  "I  hope  to  be  able  to  assist  in  the  grand 
"but  unfinished  work  of  securing  equal  political  rights  for  every  citizen  of  this  country, 
'black  as  well  as  white,  South  as  well  as  North." 


300  ZACHARIAH   CHANDLER 

tenure  made  the  tender  of  a  place  upon  the  bench  grateful  to 
him.  Accordingly,  when  Judge  Grier  resigned  his  position  as  a 
member  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Mr.  Stanton's  appointment  to 
the  vacant  Associate  Justiceship  was  at  once  urged  upon  Presi 
dent  Grant.  Mr.  Chandler  wras  very  active  in  this  matter  and 
pressed  it  with  all  his  energy.  The  effort  was  successful,  and 
on  Dec.  20,  1869,  this  nomination  was  sent  to  the  Senate  and 
promptly  confirmed.  Pour  days  afterward,  and  before  his  com 
mission  was  made  out,  Mr.  Stanton's  overtaxed  constitution 
broke  down,  and  he  died  after  a  brief  illness,  in  the  fifty -fifth 
year  of  his  age,  as  thorough  a  sacrifice  to  the  nobility  of  his 
own  patriotic  devotion  during  the  war  as  the  bravest  soldier  who 
fell  on  any  of  its  battle-fields.  During  his  fatal  illness,  Mr. 
Chandler  was  a  frequent  watcher  at  his  bedside,  and  was  one  of 
the  last  persons  with  whom  the  dying  statesman  conversed. 
After  his  death  it  was  found  that  the  man  who  had  controlled 
the  disbursement  of  hundreds  of  millions  had  died  poor,  and  had 
not  left  an  estate  adequate  to  the  support  of  his  children.  Con 
gress  directed  a  year's  salary  of  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  to  be  paid  to  his  heirs.  Mr.  Chandler  and  others  of  his 
friends  also  set  on  foot  a  movement  to  raise  a  national  memorial 
fund.  A  meeting  of  Republicans  was  called  at  the  residence  of 
Congressman  Samuel  Hooper  of  Massachusetts,  and  a  committee 
was  there  appointed  who  collected  over  $140,000  (Mr.  Chandler 
contributing  $10,000  and  President  Grant  81,000),  which  was 
invested  in  United  States  bonds  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  a 
few  trustees,  of  whom  Surgeon  -  General  Barnes  of  the  army 
was  chairman,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Stanton  family. 

During  General  Grant's  term  the  subject  of  "  war  claims " 
commenced  to  attract  national  attention.  Originally  the  Repub 
lican  Congresses  dealt  liberally  with  the  South  in  the  matter  of 
compensation  for  damages  inflicted  upon  its  loyal  citizens  during 
the  rebellion.  By  a  series  of  carefully  -  guarded  laws  (and  by  a 


THIRD    SENATORIAL    TERM.  SOI 

few  private  relief  measures  passed  to  meet  exceptional  cases)  a 
large  sum  was  paid  to  residents  of  the  rebel  States  who  suffered 
war  losses,  and  were  able  to  produce  satisfactory  proof  of  their 
fidelity  to  the  Union.  In  this  matter  the  national  government 
certainly  went  to  the  extreme  verge  of  generosity.  The  experi 
ence  attending  the  disbursement  of  the  money  thus  appropriated 
established  conclusively  the  fraudulent  and  outrageous  character  of 
a  large  percentage  of  these  claims.  In  thousands  of  cases  inves 
tigation  showed  conclusively  that  arrant  rebels  were  willing  to 
swear  that  they  had  been  "  Union  men,"  and  that  small  losses 
had,  by  false  affidavits,  been  magnified  into  great  sums.  As  recon 
struction  broke  down,  and  the  survivors  of  the  rebellion  gained 
in  strength  at  the  Capitol,  a  new  danger  arose.  No  statute  of  lim 
itations  barred  the  indefinite  presentation  of  claims  to  Congress, 
and  it  soon  became  evident  that,  not  merely  Southern  loyalists, 
but  avowed  rebels  who  suffered  losses  in  the  war  were  looking  to 
the  general  government  for  compensation  for  the  damages  which 
their  own  treason  had  invited.  The  movement  on  the  Treasury 
in  their  interest  did  not  take  on  the  form  of  an  attack  in  front, 
but  by  the  flank.  It  commenced  with  plausible  applications  for 
the  "relief"  of  Southern  institutions  and  corporations,  and  not 
of  individuals.  It  further  manifested  itself  in  propositions  for 
such  a  relaxation  of  the  terms  of  the  laws  and '  regulations  gov 
erning  this  class  of  claims  as  would  abolish  all  distinctions  of 
"  loyalty "  and  put  the  "  Confederate "  upon  an  equal  footing 
with  the  Union  applicant  for  this  kind  of  "  relief."  The  precise 
dimensions  of  this  scheme,  which  has  been  well  characterized  as 
"  an  attempt  to  make  the  United  States  pay  to  the  South  what 
"  it  cost  it  to  be  conquered  in  addition  to  what  it  cost  to  con- 
"  quer  it,"  have  not  yet  fully  appeared,  but  the  cloven  hoof  has 
been  sufficiently  revealed  to  justly  arouse  and  alarm  the  loyal 
sentiment  of  the  North.  Mr.  Chandler's  record  upon  this  ques 
tion  affords  a  striking  illustration  of  the  soundness  of  his  judg- 


302  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

ment  as  to  the  scope  and  tendency  of  any  particular  line  of 
public  policy.  When  this  subject  first  demanded  attention,  he 
took  the  position  which  his  party  substantially  assumed  ten  years 
later.  His  clear  and  practical  mind  saw  what  the  consequences 
would  be  of  any  general  re  -  irnbursement  of  war  losses,  and  he 
strenuously  resisted  the  taking  of  any  false  steps  at  the  outset. 
Thus,  on  March  2,  1865,  upon  the  bill  to  pay  Josiah  O.  Armes 
for  the  destruction  of  property  within  the  rebel  lines,  he  said  in 
the  Senate : 

I  hope  this  bill  will  not  pass  the  Senate.  ...  If  you  pass  it,  if  you 
set  this  precedent,  if  you  say  to  every  rebel  and  every  loyal  man,  and  every 
man  throughout  the  South,  by  the  passage  of  this  bill,  that  you  intend  to  pay 
for  every  dollar  of  property  that  has  been  destroyed  by  order  of  our  generals, 
you  will  give  a  more  fatal  blow  to  the  credit  of  the  government  than  by  any 
other  act  that  you  can  perform  in  this  body.  I  should  look  upon  the  passage 
of  this  bill  as  a  national  calamity,  and  one  that  we  cannot  afford  at  this  time 
to  bring  on  our  heads.  It  will  do  more  to  shake  the  faith  of  our  own  citizens 
and  of  the  moneyed  centers  of  the  world  in  the  credit  of  your  securities  than 
any  other  act  you  could  perform. 

In  his  address  before  the  Republican  caucus  which  renom- 
inated  him  for  the  Senate  in  January,  1869,  he  also  said : 

The  moment  this  government  begins  to  allow  claims  for  damages  accruing 
to  individuals  during  the  war  in  the  South,  it  is  placed  in  a  position  of  great 
peril.  Every  rebel  in  the  South  who  lost  a  haystack  or  barn  by  fire  during 
the  war  will  prove  his  loyalty  and  secure  damages.  It  requires  the  greatest 
vigilance  to  prevent  some  of  these  claims  from  being  allowed,  as  they  are 
continually  being  pressed  upon  Congress,  and  probably  will  be  for  many 
years.  The  laws  of  war  do  not  require  nor  justify  the  allowance  of  this  class 
of  claims  even  to  loyal  men.  If  they  are  loyal,  then  they  have  served  the 
government,  and  that  is  compensation  enough.  If  they  are  disloyal,  they  have 
no  claim. 

These  quotations  indicate  his  original  position  on  this  issue, 
taken  in  the  days  when  it  had  received  but  the  slightest  public 
attention.  They  are  exactly  in  the  line  of  the  vigorous  utter 
ances  upon  the  same  topic  which  formed  one  of  the  important 
features  of  his  public  addresses  in  1879,  when  the  subject  had 


THIRD    SENATORIAL    TERM.  303 

aroused  marked  popular  interest,  and    other   leaders   had    stepped 
up  to  the  platform  he  had  so  long  occupied. 

But  Mr.  Chandler  did  more  than  strenuously  oppose  the  pay 
ment  of  the  "  war  claims "  of  Southern  disloyalists ;  his  far  - 
sightedness  placed  in  their  path  a  serious  practical  obstacle.  In 
1873,  a  Colonel  Pickett,  who  had  been  confidentially  connected 
with  the  War  Department  of  the  "  Confederacy,"  came  to  Wash 
ington  and  offered  to  sell  to  the  authorities  a  vast  quantity  of 
the  archives  of  the  rebel  government,  which  he  had  secreted 
before  the  capture  of  Eichmond.  Congress  was  not  in  session, 
and  the  Secretary  of  War,  having  no  authority  in  law,  refused  to 
buy  the  documents.  Mr.  Chandler  was  in  that  city  at  the  time, 
and  Pickett  was  referred  to  him  as  a  man  of  means  and  as  one 
who  would  be  apt  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  such  a  pur 
chase.  After  one  or  two  calls,  Mr.  Chandler  determined  that  the 
matter  deserved  investigation  at  least.  He  asked  for  a  schedule 
of  the  documents  and  for  a  statement  of  their  prices.  Pickett 
promptly  furnished  the  former  and  offered  to  sell  them  for 
$250,000.  Mr.  Chandler,  after  a  careful  examination  of  the 
schedule,  replied  with  a  proposition  that,  if  the  papers  corre 
sponded  with  the  list  furnished,  he  would  pay  $75,000  for  them. 
Tliis  offer  was  at  last  accepted,  and  Mr.  Chandler  deposited  that 
sum  in  a  Washington  bank,  subject  to  Pickett's  order  after  a 
thorough  examination  of  the  documents  had  been  made.  Confi 
dential  clerks  were  at  once  set  at  work  upon  them,  and  it  was 
found  that  they  even  surpassed  their  owner's  representations  as  to 
value.  The  purchase  was  therefore  completed,  and  the  docu 
ments  became  the  private  property  of  Mr.  Chandler,  who  had 
them  locked  up  in  a  vault.  When  Congress  met,  a  bill  was 
passed  authorizing  the  Secretary  of  War  in  general  terms  to 
purchase  the  archives  of  the  Confederate  government  if  it  was 
ever  possible,  and  appropriating  $75,000  for  this  purpose.  As 
soon  as  the  bill  became  a  law  Mr.  Chandler  transferred  the  doc- 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

uments  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  they  are  now  in  the 
possession  of  that  department  and  constitute  one  of  the  most 
valuable  and  useful  features  of  its  record  of  the  rebellion.  The 
amount  that  has  been  saved  to  the  government  by  this  purchase, 
in  furnishing  evidence  to  defeat  rebel  claims,  already  exceeds 
many -fold  the  original  price.  Case  after  case  in  the  Quarter 
master-General's  office,  before  the  Southern  Claims  Commission, 
and  before  the  Court  of  Claims  has  been  defeated  bv  evidence 

d 

found    among    these    papers.*     One    single    conspicuous   instance 


*  The  value  of  this  class  of  documents  will  further  appear  from  two  quotations  from 
the  official  "Digest  of  the  Report  of  the  Southern  Claims  Commission  upon  the  Disal 
lowed  Claims,'1  only  two  being  taken  where  many  might  be.  "Claim  No.  193"  was  pre 
ferred  before  this  Commission  by  W.  R.  Alexander  of  Dichson,  Ala.,  for  $13,443,  for  cotton 
and  horses  furnished  to  the  Union  army.  Mr.  Alexander  produced  evidence  to  show,  and 
swore  himself,  that  he  had  been  a  consistent  Union  man.  The  Digest  (1  vol.,  p.  55)  says: 
•'  Among  the  papers  of  the  rebel  government  found  at  Richmond  is  a  letter,  now  in  the 
"War  Department,  a  copy  of  which  Adjutant  -  General  Townsend  has  furnished  to  us.  It 
"  reads  as  follows  : 

"  DICKSOX,  Ala.,  August  1,  1801. 

"Sin:  I  have  heard  that  the  War  Department  was  scarce  of  arms,  and  I  have  taken 
"it  upon  myself  to  look  up  all  the  old  muskets  I  can  find  and  I  now  send  them  to  you, 
"  and  I  hope  they  will  kill  many  a  Yankee.  I  have  had  one  musket  fixed  to  my  notion, 
"  which  I  send  with  the  others  for  a  model.  All  here  are  delighted  with  our  victory,  both 
"  white  and  black.  Yours,  respectfully,  WM.  R.  ALEXANDER. 

"P.  S.  I  send  these  guns,  ten  in  number,  to  the  Ordnance  Department,  Richmond, 
"  Virginia.  w.  R.  A. 

"  The  Hon.  L.  P.  Walker  S 

"On  October  11,  1872,  the  counsel  for  the  claimant,  John  J.  Key,  Esq.,  appeared 
"before  the  Commissioners  and  requested  that  the  claim,  be  withdrawn,  admitting  the  dis- 
"  loyalty  of  the  claimant.  The  claim  is  rejected." 

"Claim  135"  was  preferred  by  J.  P.  Levy  of  Wilmington,  N.  C.,  for  $10,000.  After  he 
had  sworn  to  his  own  loyalty,  he  was  called  upon  to  face  some  letters  found  in  the  rebel 
archives.  The  Commisssion  say  (p.  33,  1  vol.,  Digest):  "The  original  letters  were  fur- 
"  nished  the  Commission  by  the  War  Department  from  the  captured  rebel  archives,  and 
"copies  of  several  of  them  were  filed  with  this  report.  .  .  .  We  have  in  them  the 
"claimant  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  calling  upon  the  rebel  government  to  punish  the 
"superintendent  of  his  brother's  plantation  for  insulting  the  rebel  flag;  and,  again,  asking 
"  the  rebel  Congress  to  pass  a  law  granting  him  his  brother's  plantation  on  account  of  his 
"  signal  service  to  the  rebel  cause ;  and,  again,  offering  a  ship,  to  be  commanded  by  him- 
"  self,  for  the  rebel  service ;  also,  tendering  for  the  benefit  of  the  rebel  army,  patent 
"fuse  train  and  soda  baking -powders,  and  boasting  and  complaining  of  the  large  amount 
"due  him  from  the  rebel  government  for  supplies  for  the  rebel  army  And  now  this 
"shameless  traitor,  perjurer  and  swindler  comes  before  us  and  swears,  with  brazen  effront- 
"ery,  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  owes  him,  as  a  loyal  adherent  to  the 
"cause  of  the  Union  and  the  government  throughout  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  for  sup 
plies  furnished  the  army,  the  sum  of  $10,000.  We  reject  this  claim." 


THIRD    SENATORIAL    TERM.  305 

in  which  they  saved  to  the  Treasury  more  than  four  times  their 
entire  cost  attracted  much  deserved  attention  at  the  time.  On 
Nov.  16,  1877,  an  effort  was  made  by  leading  Southern  Demo 
crats  in  the  House  of  Representatives  to  pass  under  a  suspension 
of  the  rules,  and  without  debate,  a  joint  resolution  ordering 
the  immediate  payment  of  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  to 
mail  contractors  in  the  rebel  States  who  forfeited  their  contracts 
at  the  commencement  of  the  rebellion.  An  objection  from  the 
Hon.  Omar  D.  Conger  prevented  action  on  that  day,  but  the 
resolution  came  up  again  on  Feb.  15,  1878.  Representative  John 
H.  Reagan  of  Texas,  who  had  been  the  Postmaster  -  General  of 
the  rebel  Cabinet,  then  took  charge  of  the  measure,  and  assured 
the  House  that  the  resolution  wras  a  purely  formal  matter,  that 
it  only  provided  for  the  payment  of  liabilities  incurred  before 
the  war  commenced,  and  that  the  rebel  government  had  never 
paid  these  men  for  the  same  services.  The  Hon.  Edwin 
Willits  of  Michigan,  by  a  timely  examination  of  the  phraseology 
of  the  resolution,  discovered  that  it  provided  for  the  payment  of 
these  contractors,  not  down  to  the  actual  beginning  of  the  rebel 
lion,  but  until  May  31st,  1801,  many  weeks  after  the  rebel 
government  had  been  formed  and  after  the  firing  upon  Fort 
Sumter.  Calling  attention  to  this  fact,  he  obtained  the  further 
postponement  of  the  consideration  of  the  resolution.  When  it 
came  up  again  (on  March  8,  1878)  Mr.  Willits  came  to  the 
House  armed  with  a  volume  of  the  rebel  statutes  and  with 
important  extracts  from  documents  contained  in  the  rebel 
archives.  With  this  evidence  he  demonstrated  in  ten  minutes' 
time,  beyond  question,  that  the  rebel  government  had  assumed 
the  payment  of  this  class  of  claims,  that  it  confiscated  United 
States  money  and  applied  it  to  that  purpose,  that  the  men  so 
paid  agreed  to  refund  to  the  rebel  treasury  any  money  subse 
quently  given  them  on  this  account  by  the  United  States,  and 
that  the  joint  resolution  was  but  an  attempt  to  pay  a  second 
20  ' 


306  ZACHAIUAH    CHANDLER. 

time  contracts  already  paid  and  also  properly  declared  forfeited 
through  treason.  The  scene  attendant  upon  this  expose  was  a 
dramatic  one,  and  it  resulted  in  the  virtual  abandonment  then  of 
the  measure  by  those  who  were  responsible  for  it.  This  result 
would  not  have  been  possible,  had  not  the  rebel  archives  thus 
opportunely  yielded  up  their  secrets.  Their  possession  by  the 
government  is  undoubtedly  worth  millions  to  the  Treasury, 

In  1871,  the  second  term  of  Jacob  M.  Howard,  as  Senator 
from  Michigan,  expired,  and  Thomas  W.  Ferry,  then  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  was  chosen  as  his  successor. 
With  his  new  colleague  Mr.  Chandlers  relations  were  always 
close  and  cordial,  and  upon  the  questions  of  reconstruction,  equal 
rights,  and  the  national  supremacy  their  accord  was  complete. 
Mr.  Ferry  rapidly  attained  distinction  in  the  upper  branch  of 
Congress,  and  was  for  several  successive  years  the  President  pro 
tempore,  of  the  Senate.  The  death  of  Vice -President  Wilson 
in  1875  made  him  Acting  Vice  -  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  he  held  that  responsible  position  throughout  the  trying 
weeks  of  the  electoral  dispute  of  1876 -'7,  when  his  good  sense, 
the  perfect  discretion  of  his  course,  and  the  dignity  and  impar 
tiality  with  which  he  discharged  duties  of  the  gravest  character 
amid  vast  and  dangerous  excitement,  both  deserved  and  received 
universal  praise.  Mr.  Ferry  was  re-elected  during  this  critical 
period,  and,  as  Mr.  Chandler's  term  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
was  then  about  to  close,  it  was  suggested  in  some  quarters  that 
Michigan  should  send  him  back  to  the  Senate  in  Mr.  Ferry's 
stead.  The  quality  of  Mr.  Chandler's  fidelity  as  a  friend  and  of 
his  estimate  of  Mr.  Ferry's  public  usefulness  were  shown  in  the 
fact  that,  anxious  as  he  avowedly  was  to  become  again  a  Senator, 
these  suggestions  obtained  from  him  only  peremptory  negatives, 
and  his  advice  and  influence  contributed  to  Mr.  Ferry's  unop 
posed  re-election.  Mr.  Howard  died  suddenly  at  Detroit  from 
apoplexy  shortly  after  the  close  of  his  Senatorial  service.  As 


THIRD    SENATORIAL    TERM.  307 

further  illustrating  the  nature  of  the  friendship  existing  between 
hi  in  and  his  colleague  from  Michigan,  and  the  estimation  in 
which  he  was  held  by  the  eminent  men  with  whom  he  came  in 
contact,  this  private  letter  from  Mr.  Chandler  to  President 
Grant,  with  an  endorsement  made  thereon  by  the  latter,  is  here 
given : 

WASHINGTON,  Sept.  21,  1870. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Secretary  Cox  has  done  my  colleague  au  unintentional 
but  a  serious  injury. 

In  1809  the  whole  Michigan  delegation  united  in  recommending  the  Rev. 
W.  II.  Brockway,  one  of  the  most  popular  Methodist  clergymen  in  the  State, 
for  Indian  Agent. 

He  was  nominated  and  confirmed,  but  acquiesced  in  the  transfer  of  Indian 
affairs  to  the  military.  Since  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  my  colleague 
made  a  personal  request  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  that  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Brockway  be  commissioned  as  Indian  Agent  for  Michigan.  Instead  of  sending 
the  commission,  he  has  sent  a  man  from  New  Jersey  to  attend  to  our  Indian 
affairs.  This  has  given  offense  to  the  most  numerous  and  powerful  religious 
denomination  in  the  State  and  seriously  injured  my  colleague.  I  ask  for  my 
colleague  that  the  New  Jersey  commission  may  be  immediately  revoked,  and 
Mr.  Brockway  may  be  at  once  commissioned.  .  .  . 

It  is  really  important  that  this  be  done  at  once.  Very  respectfully,  your 
obedient  servant,  Z.  CHANDLER. 

To  President   U.  S.   Grant. 

AUTOGRAPHIC     ENDORSEMENT   BY   PRESIDENT   GRANT. 

Referred  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

I  think  Mr.  Brockway  might  with  great  propriety  be  assigned  to  the 
Indian  agency  in  his  own  State,  to  which  he  has  once  been  appointed  and 
confirmed. 

He  is  a  minister,  and  therefore  the  new  rule  adopted  will  not  be  violated 
by  his  appointment. 

I  want,  besides,  to  accommodate  Senator  Howard,  whom  I  regard  as  an 
able  supporter  of  the  Republican  party  and  of  the  Administration. 

Sept.  22,  1870.  U.  S.  GRANT. 

Mr.  Chandler  was  a  member  of  one  or  two  of  the  special 
Congressional  committees  appointed  to  investigate  those  atrocious 
political  murders  which  made  infamous  the  return  of  the  disloyal 
classes  to  power  in  the  South.  This  general  subject  received  no 
small  share  of  his  attention ;  the  facts  which  investigation  dis- 


308  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

closed  deepened  his  conviction  of  the  essential  barbarity  of  much 
that  passes  for  civilization  in  that  section,  and  added  to  the 
inflexibility  of  his  opposition  to  a  political  system,  which  was 
responsible  for  the  atrocious  crimes  of  the  Kn-Klnx-Klan,  "the 
Mississippi  plan,"  the  'White  League,  and  the  u  rifle  clubs,"  and 
for  the  horrible  massacres  of  Colfax  and  Coushatta,  of  Hamburg 
and  Ellenton. 

Two  of  his  speeches  in  the  Senate  in  1871  and  1872 
attracted  general  attention  and  were  widely  republished.  One  of 
them  was  delivered  on  January  18,  1871,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Cas- 
serly  of  California,  who  had  challenged  a  comparison  between  the 
records  of  the  Republican  and  Democratic  parties.  In  the  course 
of  twenty  minutes  Mr.  Chandler  rapidly  sketched  the  services  of 
the  Republican  party  in  defeating  the  Democratic  plot  to  sur 
render  the  territories  to  slavery,  in  crushing  a  Democratic 
rebellion,  in  emancipating  four  million  slaves,  in  building  a 
trans -continental  railway  to  the  Pacific  coast,  in  inviting  the  set 
tlement  of  the  Great  West  by  a  homestead  law,  in  establishing 
the  national  banking  system,  in  maintaining  the  public  credit 
against  Democratic  attack,  and  in  reconstructing  the  South  on 
the  basis  of  freedom  and  loyalty.  He  closed  as  follows: 

These  measures  were  carried,  not  with  the  Democratic  party,  but  in  spite 
of  the  Democratic  party.  Sir,  we  are  not  to  be  arraigned  here  and  put  on 
the  defensive,  certainly  not  by  that  old  Democratic  party. 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  they  ask  us  to  do  what  ?  To  forgive  the  past 
and  let  by-gones  be  by-gones.  You  hear  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left, 
from  every  quarter,  "Let  by-gones  be  by-gones  ;  let  us  forget  the  past  and  rub 
it  out."  Sir,  we  have  no  disposition  to  forget  the  past.  We  have  a  record  of 
which  we  are  proud.  \<fe  have  a  record  that  has  gone  into  history.  There 
we  propose  to  let  it  stand.  We  never  propose  to  blot  out  that  record.  There 
are  no  thousand  years  in  the  world's  history  in  which  so  much  has  been 
accomplished  for  human  liberty  and  human  progress  as  has  been  accomplished 
by  this  great  Republican  party  in  the  short  space  of  ten  years.  Blot  out  that 
record  ?  Never,  sir,  never !  It  is  a  record  that  will  go  down  in  history 
through  all  times  as  the  proudest  ever  made  by  any  political  party  that  ever 
existed  on  earth.  But,  sir,  do  gentlemen  of  the  Democratic  party  want  to 


THIRD    SENATORIAL    TERM.  309 

blot  out  their  record  ?  I  do  not  blame  them  for  wanting  to,  for  that  record 
is  a  record  of  treason.  It,  too,  has  gone  into  history,  and  there  it  must  stand 
through  all  ages.  Sir,  the  young  men  of  this  country  are  looking  at  these  two 
records,  and  they  are  making  up  their  minds  as  to  which  they  desire  their 
names  to  g  >  down  to  history  upon  ;  and  I  am  happy  to  say  that  of  the  young 
men  now  coming  upon  the  stage  of  action,  nine  out  of  every  ten  are  joining 
this  great  Republican  party.  They  desire  that  their  record  shall  be  associated 
with  those  who  saved  this  great  nation,  and  not  wit^i  those  who  attempted 
its  overthrow.  The  day  is  far  distant  when  that  old  Democratic  party  that 
attempted  to  overthrow  this  government  will  again  be  entrusted  with  power 
by  the  people  of  this  nation.  .  .  .  Mr.  President,  if  this  record  of  the  two 
parties  does  not  please  my  Democratic  friends,  I  have  only  to  say  to  them 
that  they  made  it  deliberately  and  they  have  got  to  stand  by  it. 

On  June  6,  1872,  Mr.  Chandler  replied  in  the  Senate  to  that 
part  of  Mr.  Simmer's  elaborate  attack  upon  General  Grant  in 
which  he  declared  that  Edwin  M.  Stanton  had  said,  in  his  last 
days,  "General  Grant  cannot  govern  this  country."  The  excess 
ive  egotism,  which  marred  Mr.  Sumner's  character  and  which 
inspired  that  unfortunate  speech,  was  always  a  cause  of  impa 
tience  with  Mr.  Chandler,  and  this  display  of  it  aroused  his  anger. 
In  his  reply,  he  challenged  squarely  the  credibility  of  Mr.  Sum 
ner's  statement.  He  first  read  from  Mr.  Stanton's  reported 
speeches,  to  show  that  their  enthusiastic  and  repeated  commenda 
tion  of  General  Grant  by  name  proved  that  Mr.  Simmer's 
assertion  that  Mr.  Stanton  had  also  said,  "  In  my  speeches  I 
"  never  introduced  the  name  of  General  Grant ;  I  spoke  for  the 
"  Republican  cause  and  the  Republican  party,"  was  exactly  con 
trary  to  the  fact.  He  then  proceeded : 

Mr.  President,  I  had  occasion  with  Mr.  Wade,  formerly  Senator  from 
Ohio,  as  member  of  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  to  see  Mr. 
Stanton,  I  think  once  a  day  on  an  average,  during  the  whole  war,  and  I  was 
in  the  habit  of  visiting  him  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  and  never,  under  any 
circumstances,  did  he  express  in  my  presence  any  but  the  highest  opinion  of 
General  Grant,  both  as  to  his  military  capacity  and  as  to  his  civil  capacity. 

Mr.  President,  on  the  Friday  before  the  death  of  E.  M.  Stanton,  I  had 
occasion  to  visit  him  in  company  with  two  friends,  members  of  the  other 
House,  one  Hon.  Judge  Beaman,  then  a  member  for  Michigan,  the  other 
Judge  Conger,  now  a  member  from  Michigan.  We  had  that  day  a  long  inter- 


310  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 


view  of  not  less  than  an  hour  and  a  half,  wherein  Mr.  Stanton  expressed  the 
highest  opinion  of  President  Grant,  both  as  to  his  military  and  civil  capacity. 
I  awaited  an  interview  with  these  parties  before  making  this  statement,  and 
their  recollection  is  the  same  as  my  own.  I  have  likewise  held  two  or  three 
interviews  with  Senator  Wade  since  then,  and  his  recollection  of  the  expres 
sions  of  the  late  E.  M.  Stanton  is  equally  strong  as  my  own  to-day.  Mr. 
Stanton  said,  in  the  presence  of  two  witnesses,  "The  country  knows  General 
Grant  to  be  a  great  warrior;  I  know  he  will  prove  a  great  civilian."  . 

Mr.  President,  the  relations  between  the  President  of  the  United  States  and 
the  late  Secretary  Stanton  were  of  remarkable  kindliness.  Never  did  I  hear 
either  express  any  but  the  highest  esteem  and  regard  for  the  other.  ...  I 
think  the  last  interview  he  ever  had  was  the  interview  with  me  in  the 
presence  of  these  two  living  witnesses.  .  .  .  Surgeon  -  General  Barnes  was 
his  attending  physician  at  the  hour  of  his  death.  According  to  his  testimony, 
from  the  hour  I  last  saw  him  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  there  was  no 
change,  so  far  as  can  be  known. 

In  another  part  of  this  speech  the  President  is  arraigned  as  a  great  gift- 
taker.  Sir,  General  Grant  was  a  great  taker.  Few  men  have  ever  been  as 
eminent  as  takers.  He  took  Fort  Donelson  with  some  twenty  or  thirty 
thousand  soldiers ;  and  he  took  Shiloh,  and  took  Vicksburg,  and  took  the 
Wilderness,  and  took  Murfreesboro'  and  Appomattox  and  all  the  rebel  mate 
rial  of  war.  He,  with  his  army,  took  the  shackles  from  4,000,000  slaves. 
And,  sir,  after  he  had  taken  the  vitals  out  of  the  rebellion,  he  was  urged  by 
his  friends  to  accept  a  small  donation  to  take  himself  out  of  the  hands  of 
poverty,  a  thing  that  has  been  done  by  all  nations  and  by  all  grateful  people  s 
in  all  ages  of  the  world.  Sir,  he  is  to  be  arraigned  as  a  great  gift -taker 
because  he  accepted  the  voluntary  contributions  of  a  grateful  people  ! 

Why,  sir,  there  were  few  men  of  capacity,  few  men  of  fitness  to  occupy 
positions  under  this  government  who  did  not  subscribe,  gratefully,  anxiously 
subscribe,  to  that  fund  to  relieve  U.  S.  Grant  from  his  poverty.  And  yet,  he 
is  to  be  arraigned  here  as  a  gift  -  taker,  as  though  that  was  a  crime  ! 

Mr.  President,  there  are  two  classes  of  people  in  this  world,  and  we  see 
specimens  of  them  both.  We  have  great  o-ra-tors  and  great  men  of  business. 
On  this  floor  our  o-ra-tors  have  occupied  the  time  of  this  session  to  the  exclu 
sion  of  business,  and  while  these  o  -  ra  -  tors  have  been  wasting  the  time  of  this 
body  to  the  detriment  of  the  business  of  the  nation,  willing  to  indulge  in 
windy  orations  at  the  expense  of  the  government,  U.  S.  Grant,  President  of  the 
United  States,  has  been  managing  the  affairs  of  this  nation  better  than  they 
were  ever  managed  before.  While  your  o-ra-tors  were  here  delivering  windy 
words,  he  was  paying  the  national  debt  faster  than  these  o-ra-tors  c<  uld 
count  it.  While  they  were  o-ra-ting,  he  was  negotiating  treaties  and  attending 
to  the  civil  service  of  the  nation.  While  they  were  o-ra-ting  on  this  lloor 
during  the  war,  he  was  winning  victories  in  the  bloodiest  part  of  the  fight 
And  now,  while  they  are  o-ra-ting  on  this  floor,  he  is  endearing  himself  10 


THIRD    SENATORIAL    TERM.  311 

the  hearts  of  the  whole  people  of  this  land  as  no  other  man  ever  did. 
Stanton  was  prophetic  ;  he  is  not  only  great  in  war,  but  he  is  greater  as  a 
civilian. 

The  act  of  March  3,  18 73,  which  raised  the  annual  salaries 
of  Congressmen  from  $5,000  to  $7,500,  gave  also  to  this  increase 
a  retroactive  effect  and  made  it  apply  to  the  members  of  Con 
gress  who  passed  the  measure  and  whose  official  terms  ended 
on  that  very  day.  Public  opinion  did  not  approve  of  any  aspect 
of  this  change,  but  it  condemned  vehemently  the  voting  by 
Congressmen  to  themselves  of  $5,000  each  for  services  already 
rendered  and  in  addition  to  liberal  salaries  fixed  at  the  time  of 
their  acceptance  of  office.  So  emphatic  were  the  manifestations 
of  popular  wrath  at  both  this  act  and  its  methods,  that  the  next 
Congress  promptly  repealed  "the  salary  grab,"  as  it  was  com 
monly  called.  Mr.  Chandler's  integrity  and  good  sense  kept  him 
from  any  participation  in  this  obnoxious  performance.  He 
opposed  the  increase  of  compensation  earnestly  in  the  Senate, 
voted  against  it  at  all  stages  of  the  contest,  and  refused  to 
accept  his  "  back  pay."  When  the  bill  had  been  passed  and  the 
increased  salary  had  been  placed  to  his  credit  on  the  Senate 
books,  he  went  to  the  Treasury  with  his  colleague  and  they 
deposited  the  difference  between  the  old  and  the  new  rate  to 
the  credit  of  the  government,  writing  the  following  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury : 

WASHINGTON,  March  28,  1873. 

SIR  :  Herewith  find  drafts  on  the  Treasury,  one  of  $8,906.80  payable  to 
Z.  Chandler,  the  other  of  $3,920,  to  T.  W.  Ferry,  being  avails  of  retroactive 
increase  of  salary  passed  during  the  expiring  days  of  and  for  the  Forty- second 
Congress,  and  this  day  placed  in  our  hands  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate. 

Not  willing  to  gain  what  we  voted  against,  we  request  that  the  same  be 
applied  toward  the  cancellation  of  any  of  the  six  per  cent,  interest  -  bearing 
obligations  of  the  nation.  Lest  such  return  be  distorted  into  possible  reflection 
upon  the  propriety  of  dissimilar  disposition  by  others,  you  will  oblige  us  much 
by  giving  no  publicity  to  the  matter.  Very  respectfully,  yours, 

Z.  CHANDLER, 
T.  W.  FERRY. 


312  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

The  amount  refunded  was  the  exact  difference  between  the 
sums  allowed  under  the  old  and  the  increased  rate.  The  new 
law  gave  an  increase  of  salary  for  the  term,  without  mileage. 
The  old  law  allowed  $5,000  less  salary,  but  gave  mileage  in 
addition.  Mr.  Chandler  and  Mr.  Ferry  took  the  amount  due 
them  under  the  old  system,  and  returned  the  additional  sum 
which  was  allowed  them  under  the  new:  The  spirit  of  scrupu 
lous  honesty  which  dictated  this  proceeding  is  shown  in  the  last 
sentence  of  the  joint  letter,  asking  that  publicity  might  not  be 
given  to  their  action.  They  took  this  step  voluntarily  and  not 
under  any  constraint  from  public  opinion. 

In  the  general  elections  of  1870  and  1872  Mr.  Chandler  was 
exceedingly  active,  making  the  usual  number  of  public  addresses, 
and  also  devoting  much  time  to  organization  and  to  the  gen 
eral  distribution  of  political  literature.  The  latter  branch  of 
party  effort  had  become  the  special  province  of  the  Republican 
Congressional  Committee.  For  more  than  twenty  years  thore 
have  been  two  distinct  executive  organizations  within  the  Repub 
lican  party,  independent  of  each  other,  but  always  working  in 
harmony,  namely :  The  National  Committee,  and  the  Congres 
sional  Committee.  The  latter  is  composed  of  a  Representative 
in  Congress  from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Republican  members 
of  the  respective  delegations.  'No  man  can  serve  upon  this  com 
mittee  unless  he  holds  a  seat  in  Congress,  and  States  which  have 
no  Republican  Congressmen  are  unrepresented  in  its  member 
ship.  Mr.  Chandler  and  James  M.  Edmunds  were  the  founders 
of  the  Congressional  Committee  as  a  practical  and  influential 
working  body ;  their  plans  and  efforts  first  made  it  a  power  in 
American  politics,  and  it  remained  under  their  joint  control 
until  Mr.  Chandler  became  chairman  of  the  National  Committee. 
The  special  objects  which  it  aimed  to  accomplish  were  the 
securing  of  a  uniform  treatment  of  political  topics  by  news 
papers  and  speakers  throughout  the  country,  and  the  circulation 


THIRD    SENATORIAL    TERM. 

(under  the  franking  privilege,  or  otherwise)  of  instructive  and 
timely  documents.  During  the  reconstruction  era  it  also  devoted 
much  attention  to  the  work  of  Republican  organization  in  the 
South,  where  special  efforts  were  necessary  to  form  into  effective 
voting  masses  the  emancipated  slaves,  not  yet  freed  from  the 
blindness  of  bondage  or  familiar  with  the  responsibilities  of  citi 
zenship.  But  the  great  aim  of  the  committee  —  all  else  that  it 
did  was  subsidiary  to  that  —  was  the  circulation  of  political  liter 
ature.  This  end  it  sought  to  reach  by  two  methods :  First,  by 
the  publication  and  mailing  to  individuals  and  to  local  commit 
tees  in  all  parts  of  the  country  of  such  Congressional  speeches 
as  treated  thoroughly  and  effectively  any  phase  of  the  current 
political  situation;  second,  by  furnishing  the  Republican  press, 
through  the  medium  of  weekly  sheets  of  carefully  prepared  mat 
ter,  with  accurate  information  as  to  the  facts  underlying  existing 
issues  and  with  suggestions  as  to  their  best  treatment  before  the 
people.  Obviously  this  work  could  be  done  to  much  better 
advantage  at  Washington  than  elsewhere,  for  the  capital  city  is 
the  focus  of  the  thousand  currents  of  political  opinion  and  the 
depository  of  the  official  statistics  of  the  nation.  Hence  it  was 
deemed  wise  to  establish  a  system  of  guidance  from  that  point 
of  the  public  discussions  of  each  national  campaign,  so  that 
increased  intelligence,  cohesion,  and  efficiency  could  be  given  to 
the  general  attack  on  the  enemy;  this  idea  —  which  is,  in  brief, 
that  the  systematizing  of  the  political  education  of  the  people  is 
an  important  element  of  well -planned  party  warfare  —  James 
M.  Edmunds  always  held  tenaciously;  aided  by  Mr.  Chandler's 
friendship,  influence,  means,  and  co-operation,  he  proved  its 
soundness  most  conclusively. 

Early  in  his  Senatorial  service  Mr.  Chandler  was  made  the 
chairman  of  this  committee,  and  Mr.  Edmunds  its  secretary.  The 
two  men  were  admirably  matched.  Mr.  Edmunds  was  a  natural 
planner,  keen  in  his  intuitions,  shrewd  in  observation,  and  a 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

skillful  judge  of  the  bearing  and  tendency  of  party  and  public 
policies.  In  determining  what  was  the  most  promising  line  of 
attack,  where  the  weakest  points  of  the  enemy's  lines  were  to 
be  found,  wherein  the  strength  of  any  position  lay,  or  what 
strategy  would  make  victory  the  most  certain  and  complete,  he 
had  no  superior.  When  his  acute  and  experienced  judgment  was 
re-inforced  by  Mr.  Chandler's  vigor  in  execution,  influence  with 
public  men,  and  large  wealth  great  results  never  failed  to  fol 
low.  These  two  men  quickly  made  the  Congressional  Committee 
one  of  the  most  powerful  agencies  of  party  warfare  known  in 
American  politics.  In  many  campaigns  its  influence  was  almost 
literally  felt  in  every  Northern  township,  and  its  labors  wTere 
not  without  some  effect,  more  frequently  greater  than  less,  in 
unifying  and  invigorating  the  contest  in  every  Congressional 
district  from  Maine  to  Texas  and  Florida  to  Oregon.  Its  work 
was  done  quietly,  but  most  thoroughly ;  its  managers  rather 
shunned  than  courted  publicity ;  and  the  people  at  large,  who 
were  informed  and  inspired  by  its  labors,  knew  nothing  of  its 
methods  and  activity,  hardly  the  fact  of  its  existence.  From 
1866  to  1874  Mr.  Chandler  was  very  active  in  connection  with 
this  committee,  and  never  failed  to  provide  the  agencies  and  the 
resources  for  the  adequate  carrying  on  of  its  work.  When  its 
treasury  grew  empty  his  private  check  made  good  any  deficiency, 
and  repeatedly  his  advances  upon  its  account  reached  tens  of 
thousands  of  dollars.  His  confidence  in  Secretary  Edmunds  was 
implicit,  and  the  latter's  mature  recommendations  never  failed 
because  of  any  lack  of  means.  In  1870  the  work  of  this  com 
mittee  was  especially  productive ;  its  value  became  much  more 
clearly  apparent  then  than  had  ever  been  the  case  before, 
and  Mr.  Chandler  repeatedly  said  to  the  President  and  other 
Republican  leaders,  "  Judge  Edmunds  is  the  Bismark  of  this 
campaign."  In  1872  Mr.  Edmunds  first  suggested  the  necessity 
of  meeting  the  Greeley  movement  by  the  thorough  searching  of 


THIRD    SENATORIAL    TERM. 


315 


the  files  of  the  New  York  Tribune  and  of  Mr.  Greeley's  record, 
for  the  ample  material  therein  contained  which  would  make 
impossible  his  support  by  the  Democratic  masses.  Mr.  Chandler 
approved  of  this  plan,  and  promised  that  the  money  needed 
should  be  forthcoming.  Before  all  the  work  was  completed,  his 


JAMES    M.    EDMUNDS. 

advances  had  reached  nearly  $30,000.  At  times,  in  the  course 
of  efforts  of  this  character,  Mr.  Edmunds  guided  the  pens  of 
upward  of  three  hundred  writers  gathered  under  his  general 
supervision,  while  the  results  of  their  labors  informed  the  edito 
rial  pages  of  thousands  of  Eepublican  newspapers,  and  thus 
reached  millions  of  voting  readers.  For  some  time,  also,  a 


316  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

monthly  periodical  named  The  Republic  was  issued,  which,  pre 
served  in  durable  form  the  most  careful  and  elaborate  articles 
prepared  under  the  committee's  supervision.  This  work  of  the 
political  enlightenment  of  the  people,  clearly  the  most  rational 
agency  of  party  warfare,  has  never  been  executed  on  this  con 
tinent  with  the  thoroughness,  intelligence  and  efficiency  which 
marked  the  labors  of  the  Congressional  Committee  when  Mr. 
Chandler  was  at  its  head  and  Mr.  Edmunds  was  its  executive 
officer. 

The  man  whose  name  is  so  closely  coupled  in  these  pages 
with  that  of  Mr.  Chandler  deserves  the  grateful  and  lasting 
remembrance  of  the  Republican  party.  James  M.  Edmunds  was 
a  natural  politician  of  the  best  type.  Patriotic  instincts  and  sin 
cere  convictions  were  interwoven  with  his  nature.  The  party 
whose  tendencies  satisfied  those  instincts,  and  whose  policies  most 
nearly  accorded  with  those  convictions,  he  served  loyally  and 
with  rare  capacity;  more  than  this,  he  served  it  unselfishly.  He 
cared  nothing  for  prominence,  and  never  sought  after  reputation. 
He  made  no  speeches,  he  rarely  shared  in  any  public  demonstra 
tion,  he  held  no  conspicuous  positions,  he  manifested  no  personal 
ambition,  but  for  twenty  years  he  was  the  trusted  counselor  of 
famous  men  at  the  capital,  his  influence  was  felt  in  national 
legislation  and  party  movements,  and  important  events  with 
which  his  name  never  was  and  never  will  be  connected  received 
the  impress  of  his  acute  observation  and  sagacious  judgment. 
Especially  in  Republican  political  management  was  he  a  wise 
and  strong  "  power  behind  the  throne."  Mr.  Edmunds  was  a 
native  of  Western  New  York,  but  emigrated  to  Michigan  in 
1831.  He  was  for  many  years  a  prominent  business  man  at 
Ypsilanti,  Yassar  and  Detroit,  in  that  State,  and  was  always 
politically  active.  The  Whigs  sent  him  repeatedly  to  the  Legis 
lature,  and  made  him  their  (unsuccessful)  candidate  for  Gover 
nor  in  1847.  He  was  chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Central 


THIRD    SENATORIAL    TERM  317 

Committee    from   1855    to    1861,  and    Controller    of   the   city  of 
Detroit   for  two  of  those  years.     At  the  commencement  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's    administration    he    removed    to    Washington,    and    was 
there    successively    Commissioner    of    the    General    Land    Office, 
Postmaster  of  the   Senate,  and  Postmaster    of   the  city  of  Wash 
ington.     Personally  he    was    a    tall    and    spare    man,  exceedingly 
plain  in    his    manners   and    simple    in    his    tastes,  utterly  without 
either  the  liking  for  or  faculty  of  display,  retiring  in  disposition, 
firm  of  purpose,  of  strict  integrity,  and  exact  in  his  dealings  and 
habits.     Mr.  Edmunds's   remarkable    strength  a"s  a  politician   con 
sisted  in  his  experience,  in   his  lack   of    any  personal   aspirations, 
in    his   skill    in   controlling  men  and    the    accuracy    of   his   judg 
ment  as  to  their  motives,  and    in    an  almost   prophetic   ability  to 
reason  out  the  probable  direction    and   effect    of   any  given   plan 
of   action.      He  became    a   man  whom   those    charged  with  great 
responsibilities   could    profitably  and   safely  consult,  and  his  well- 
considered  and  shrewd  advice   often    had  decisive    \veight   at   the 
White  House,  on  the  floors  of  Congress,  and  in  the  private  coun 
cils  of   eminent  men.     Outside    of    the    Congressional  Committee, 
he  did   much  campaign    work   in   directing  organization  and  sug 
gesting    plans.      He    was    one    of    the    founders    of    the    Union 
League,  and  directed  its  operations  during  the  years  of    its  great 
political  usefulness  in  the   South.     It   may  be  said  without  exag 
geration  that    no   single    member   of    the    .Republican  party  ever 
rendered    it    services    as    great    and   as ,  slightly  requited    as   were 
those  of  James  M.  Edmunds. 

Mr.  Chandler's  close  friendship  with  Mr.  Edmunds  covered 
a  period  of  nearly  half  a  century,  and  included  an  implicit  con 
fidence  in  the  man  himself  and  in  his  prudence  and  the  sagacity 
of  his  judgment.  The  comment  made  upon  their  intimacy  by 
one  wrho  knew  them  both  well  was,  "  Sometimes  it  seemed  to 
"  me  that  no  man  could  be  as  wise  as  Mr.  Chandler  believed 
"  that  Judge  Edmunds  was."  They  were  in  almost  constant 


318  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

consultation  upon  public  questions,  tlieir  co-operation  was  ever 
hearty,  and  this  friendship  the  Senator  valued  as  a  priceless  pos 
session.  "  In  death  they  were  not  divided ; "  the  dispatch,  which 
announced  that  Mr.  Chandler's  busy  life  had  ended  so  suddenly 
in  Chicago,  came  to  Mr.  Edmunds  while  infirm  in  health ; 
it  affected  him  powerfully,  and  his  spirit  did  not  pass  from 
under  the  shadow  of  this  blow ;  within  a  few  weeks  his  own 
death  followed. 


CIIAPTEK    XYIII. 

THE    MAINTENANCE    OF    A    SOUND    CURRENCY    AND    THE    PUBLIC    FAITH. 

X  1873  the  bubble  of  an  irredeemable  currency,  inflated 
prices,  and  wild  speculation  burst  in  the  United  States, 
and  the  era  of  universal  shrinkage,  commercial  collapse, 
and  industrial  stagnation  began.  The  financial  condition 
of  the  government  and  the  people  at  once  became  the  absorbing 
topic  of  public  discussion,  and  for  five  years  the  questions  con 
nected  with  the  currency  and  the  national  credit  were  those 
which  most  completely  absorbed  popular  attention.  Mr.  Chand 
ler's  share  in  the  prolonged  controversy  over  the  financial  prob 
lem  was  a  conspicuous  one ;  he  came  into  it  equipped  witli  clear 
ideas  and  a  consistent  record ;  he  contended  for  the  causes  of 
rational  finance  and  public  honesty  without  wavering  in  the 
face  of  the  strongest  opposition,  and  without  any  departure  from 
sound  doctrine;  and  he  saw  the  courage  and  persistence  of  those 
with  whom  he  acted  finally  rewarded  by  the  enlightenment  of 
the  people,  the  restoration  of  a  convertible  currency,  and  the 
raising  of  the  credit  of  the  United  States  to  the  highest  standard. 
For  obvious  reasons  his  record  upon  all  the  phases  of  "  the 
financial  question"  can  be  most  satisfactorily  treated  in  a  single 
chapter.  That  record  will  show  that  he  began  at  a  point  to 
which  many  other  public  men  were  brought  only  by  years  of 
education,  and  it  well  illustrates  the  clearness  of  his  conceptions 
of  the  principles  underlying  questions  connected  with  what  may 
be  called  the  practical  departments  of  statesmanship. 

Not    the    least    of    the    difficulties,  which    at    the    outset  con 
fronted  the  administration  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  was  the  fact  that 


320  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER. 

the  public  treasury  was  empty  and  the  national  credit  impaired. 
In  October,  1860,  the  government  had  contracted  a  five  per 
cent,  loan  of  $7,000,000  at  a  small  premium  ;  four  months  later, 
a  six  per  cent,  loan  had  been  sold  with  difficulty  at  about  ninety 
cents  on  the  dollar.  It  was  true,  by  way  of  offset,  that  the 
country  was  in  a  generally  prosperous  condition.  The  commercial 
wrecks  of  1857  had  disappeared,  crops  were  abundant,  and  gen 
eral  business  had  become  again  remunerative.  This  was  an 
element  of  national  strength,  but  it  was  not  a  quickly  available 
resource.  War  meant  large  immediate  expenditure,  for  which 
the  means  must  be  promptly  provided.  There  was  no  time  to 
create  and  organize  upon  an  extensive  scale  the  machinery  of 
direct  taxation,  and  soni3  doubts  were  then  felt  as  to  whether 
the  people  would  not  grow  restive  under  any  general  imposition 
of  new  burdens.  The  entire  stock  of  coin  in  the  !N"ortli  was 
estimated  at  but  about  $121,000,000,  while  the  paper  money  in 
existence  was  exclusively  composed  of  the  notes  of  state  banks 
organized  under  diverse  and  often  insecure  systems,  and  much  of 
it  circulated  only  at  a  discount.  This  condition  of  the  currency 
created  the  fear  that  the  rapid  negotiation  of  large  government 
loans  could  not  be  accomplished  without  the  serious  derangement 
of  the  money  market;  the  withdrawal  of  considerable  sums  from 
circulation,  even  temporarily,  business  men  believed  would  be 
impossible  without  great  injury  to  domestic  enterprise  and  com 
merce.  All  these  circumstances  forced  the  government  (which 
found  itself  facing  absolutely  without  preparation  organized 
rebellion)  to  resort  at  once  to  the  issue  of  a  national  paper  cur 
rency  in  the  form  of  non  -  interest  -  bearing  treasury  notes  of 
small  denominations.  Congress,  at  its  extra  session  in  July, 
1861,  passed  the  necessary  act  for  this  purpose,  and  $50,000,000 
of  these  notes  ($10,000,000  more  were  subsequently  authorized) 
were  placed  in  circulation ;  originally  they  were  made  redeema 
ble  in  coin  on  demand  at  any  United  States  sub  -  treasury,  and 


THE    CURRENCY.  321 

thus  violated  none  of  the  established  principles  of  sound  finance. 
This  expedient  facilitated  the  negotiation  of  loans,  and  provided 
"the  sinews  of  war"  for  1861.  But,  when  Congress  met  in 
December  of  that  year,  it  had  become  plain  that  the  struggle 
would  be  of  indefinite  duration,  and  that  past  expenditures  would 
be  greatly  exceeded  in  the  months  to  come.  To  add  to  the 
embarrassments  of  the  situation,  at  about  this  time  the  banks  of 
the  North  suspended  specie  payments,  and  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment  was  compelled  as  a  matter  of  self  -  protection  to  also  stop 
redeeming  in  coin  its  own  notes  then  outstanding.  It  was  as  a 
means  of  escape  from  this  emergency,  that  the  first  issr.e  of 
greenbacks  was  authorized  (by  the  act  of  Feb.  25,  18G2).  These 
notes  were  not  redeemable  on  demand,  but  to  secure*  their  free 
circulation  they  were  made  a  "legal  tender"  for  all  purposes 
except  the  payment  of  duties  and  of  the  interest  on  the  public 
debt.  The  abandonment  of  the  self -operating  method  of  redemp 
tion  and  the  resort  to  the  compulsion  of  the  "legal  tender" 
enactment,  as  a  means  of  keeping  these  notes  in  circulation, 
constituted  a  step  which  the  Thirty -seventh  Congress  took  with 
extreme  reluctance.  A  small  minority  of  its  members  resisted 
this  measure  to  the  last,  but  what  seemed  to  be  the  overshadow 
ing  necessities  of  the  situation  and  the  earnest  appeals  of 
Secretary  Chase  finally  forced  the  passage  of  the  law.  Mr. 
Chandler  was  one  of  those  who,  without  approving  of  the  princi 
ple  of  this  legislation,  still  voted  for  it,  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  essential  to  the  public  safety  at  that  moment  and  justified  by 
the  urgency  of  the  situation.  But  he  regarded  it  as  a  temporary 
expedient,  a  mere  plan  for  an  emergency,  and  not  as  a  perma 
nent  policy.  The  first  act  authorized  the  issue  of  $150,000,000 
of  "greenbacks"  and  directed  the  retiring  of  the  $60,000,000 
of  treasury  notes  previously  paid  out ;  this  §150,000,000  Mr. 
Chandler  believed  it  was  possible  to  so  control  .and  use  as  to 
avoid  the  evils  inseparable  from  inflation.  But  the  proposition  to 
21 


322  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

double  the  amount  of  "greenbacks,"  wliicli  came  in  less  than 
half  a  year  from  the  Treasury  officials,  he  strenuously  opposed. 
On  June  17,  1862,  he  offered  this  resolution  in  the  Senate: 

Be  it  Resohed  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  That  the  amount 
of  "legal  tender"  treasury  notes  authorized  by  law  shall  never  be  increased. 

On  the  following  day  he  called  up  this  resolution,  and  said: 

The  effect  of  the  recommendation  (to  issue  $300,000,000  of  "legal  tender" 
notes)  has  been  most  disastrous.  The  mere  recommendation,  without  any 
action  of  Congress  on  the  subject,  has  created  such  a  panic,  and  has  so  con 
vinced  the  moneyed  centers  of  the  world  that  we  are  to  be  flooded  with  this 
paper,  that  gold  has  risen  in  price  from  two  and  three  -  quarters  to  seven  per 
cent,  premium.  National  credit  is  precisely  like  individual  credit.  It  is  based, 
first,  on  the  ability  to  pay;  and,  second,  upon  the  high  and  honorable  principle 
which  would  induce  the  payment  of  a  liability.  When  the  proposition  to  issue 
treasury  notes  was  first  made,  it  was  received  with  great  apprehension  by 
Congress  and  by  the  nation.  .  .  .  There  was  at  that  time  a  vacuum  for 
$50,000,000  that  must  be  filled  from  some  source.  ...  I  then  believed 
that  $100,000,000  was  requisite,  and  that  $100,000,000  was  enough.  I  believe 
so  now.  When  you  issue  $100,000,000  of  currency  you  must  either  find  a 
vacuum  or  you  must  create  one  for  it.  A  hundred  millions  in  addition  to 
the  existing  circulation  would  at  any  time  create  great  disturbance  in  the 
financial  condition  of  this  country.  .  .  .  The  moment  you  authorize  the 
issue  of  $300,000,000  your  coin  will  rise  to  ten  or  twelve  per  cent.,  and  your 
notes  will  fall  to  90  or  85.  The  result  will  be  that  the  government  will  be 
paying  just  so  much  more  for  every  article  it  purchases  than  it  would  if  you 
kept  your  circulating  notes  at  or  about  the  value  of  coin. 

Again,  the  moment  you  reduce  the  value  of  these  notes,  even  to  the  point 
at  which  they  now  stand,  even  to  seven  per  cent,  discount,  }rou  drive  out  of 
circulation  the  coin  of  the  country.  The  temptation  is  too  strong  to  be 
resisted  to  use  something  else  besides  coin  for  change  and  for  small  circula 
tion.  Are  we  to  be  reduced  to  a  shin -plaster  circulation,  as  is  the  case 
to  -  day  all  through  the  South  ?  That  will  be  the  result  if  you  force  upon 
the  country  an  amount  of  circulating  notes  beyond  its  requirements. 
I  consider  it  a  duty  we  owe  to  the  country,  a  duty  we  owe  to  ourselves, 
to  proclaim  that  under  no  circumstances  shall  a  currency,  irredeemable  in 
coin,  beyond  the  present  issue  of  $150,000,000,  be  thrust  upon  the  money 
markets  of  the  country. 

But  the  pressure  toward  a  reckless  currency  expansion  was 
irresistible,  and  the  pending  bill  passed.  Mr.  Chandler's  prophe- 


THE    CURRENCY.  323 

cies  were  promptly  verified,  for  the  gold  premium  rose  and 
the  "  shin  -  plaster  currency"  made  its  appearance  with  but  little 
delay.  Moreover,  these  issues  only  stimulated  the  thirst  they 
were  intended  to  quench,  and  the  general  inflation  of  prices  soon 
again  produced  an  apparent  scarcity  of  currency.  Early  in  1863 
a  demand  came  from  Mr.  Chase  for  authority  to  increase  the 
"greenback"  circulation  to  $400,000,000.  Congress  granted  this 
application,  but  Mr.  Chandler  opposed  it,  saying  in  the  Senate : 

When  the  first  proposition  was  made  to  issue  $150,000,000  of  treasury 
notes,  I  favored  it  ;  but  when  the  proposition  was  made  to  increase  that  to 
$300,000,000,  I  opposed  it.  ...  I  prophesied  what  the  result  of  thus  thrust 
ing  $300,000,000  of  irredeemable  paper  upon  an  already  overstocked  market 
would  be.  I  said  it  would  carry  up  coin  to  an  unlimited  extent.  The  result 
has  proved  that  my  predictions  were  true.  Now  it  is  proposed  to  issue 
$400,000000;  we  propose  to  thrust  them  upon  an  already  over -supplied  mar 
ket.  .  .  .  It  is  our  duty  to  protect  the  people,  so  far  as  in  our  power, 
from  this  great  depreciation  in  the  specie  value  of  the  circulating  medium, 
and  this  we  can  only  do  by  decreasing  its  volume. 

The  general  positions  which  he  stated  thus  early  Mr.  Chand 
ler  firmly  held  throughout  every  stage  of  the  subsequent  contest 
over  the  "  currency  question."  He  believed  that  irredeemable 
paper  money,  although  issued  by  the  government  itself  and  made 
a  "  legal  tender "  by  supreme  authority,  was  an  unmixed  evil ; 
that  only  the  most  imminent  peril  could  justify  an  even  tempo 
rary  resort  to  its  use ;  that  it  ought  never  to  be  employed  except 
within  narrow  limits ;  that  any  excessive  issues,  if  made,  should 
be  promptly  called  in ;  that  it  should  be  made  redeemable  on 
demand  in  coin,  "  the  money  of  the  world,"  at  the  earliest  pos 
sible  moment ;  and  that  ultimately  it  should  be  wholly  withdrawn 
from  circulation  by  the  issuing  power.  Accordingly,  he  opposed 
the  propositions  to  still  further  increase  (to  $450,000,000)  the 
issue  of  "greenbacks,"  supported  the  principle  (while  objecting 
to  some  of  the  details)  of  the  act  of  April  12,  1866,  ordering 
their  steady  contraction,  and  was  opposed  to  the  act  of  Feb.  4, 


32i  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

1868,  stopping  each  contraction.  The  reduction  in  the  volume 
of  the  "greenbacks"  he  believed  to  be  an  indispensable  pre 
liminary  to  the  resumption  of  specie  payments,  saying  in  the 
Senate :  "  The  government  will  never  resume  so  long  as  it  has 
$-100,000,000  of  outstanding  demand  notes."  As  he  opposed 
during  the  war  excessive  issues  of  the  "  greenbacks,"  so  after 
it  closed  he  steadily  favored  the  reduction  of  their  volume 
with  the  view  to  the  early  restoration  of  their  convertibility  and 
their  final  redemption  and  canceling.  The  hesitating  and  halt 
ing  policy,  which  perpetuated  all  the  unwholesome  influences  of 
inflation  and  added  to  the  severity  of  the  inevitable  collapse, 
was  followed  against  his  protest  and  in  the  face  of  predictions, 
which  were  inspired  by  his  intimate  knowledge  of  natural  com 
mercial  laws,  and  were  verified  by  the  event. 

In  the  constant  discussions  of  financial  measures  during  the 
war,  Mr.  Chandler  did  not  earnestly  oppose  the  frequent  resort 
to  the  issue  of  irredeemable  paper  without  offering  as  a  substi 
tute  policies  which  he  believed  would  yield  relief,  equally  ade 
quate,  much  less  costly,  and  far  less  unwholesome  in  tendency. 
He  proposed  to  provide  the  means  for  meeting  the  enormous 
expenditures  required  of  the  government  by  more  thorough 
direct  taxation  and  by  larger  loans;  and  he  believed  that 
increased  imposts,  by  strengthening  the  credit  of  the  government, 
would  greatly  improve  its  standing  as  a  borrower  in  the  money 
markets  of  the  world.  Briefly,  the  policy  which  he  favored,  in 
lieu  of  the  mass  of  temporary  expedients  which  were  adopted, 
was  this:  (1.)  Declare  that  the  issue  of  "legal  tender"  treasury 
notes  should  not  exceed  $150,000,000,  and  thus  stop  their  depre 
ciation  by  ending  all  fear  of  their  inflation.  (2.)  Tax  freely, 
arid  by  this  means  convince  the  world  that  the  United  States 
eould  and  would  redeem  its  treasury  notes  and  pay  the  interest 
and  principal  of  its  bonds.  (3.)  Use  the  credit  thus  created  to 
borrow  on  the  most  advantageous  terms,  and  avoid  all  measures 


THE    CURRENCY.  325 

that  might  in  any  way  tend  to  impair  the  negotiable  value  of, 
or  the  general  confidence  in,  the  national  securities.  He  devel 
oped  these  general  ideas  repeatedly  in  his  speeches  and  votes, 
while  questions  relating  to  them  were  before  Congress.  On  May 
30,  1862,  he  said  in  the  Senate  : 

We  voted  at  an  early  day  in  the  session  that  we  would  raise  a  tax  of 
$150,000,030  from  all  sources.  .  .  .  What  was  the  result  of  that  vote  ? 
On  the  very  day  that  that  solemn  pledge  was  given  to  the  country  and  the 
world  .  .  .  the  six  per  cent,  bonds  of  the  United  States  stood  at  90  cents 
on  the  dollar  in  the  city  of  New  York.  To-day  with  an  expenditure  of 
more  than  a  million  dollars  a  day,  .  .  .  under  this  simple  pledge  in 
advance,  of  what  you  would  do,  your  bonds  hive  gone  up  from  90  cents 
to  above  par,  and  are  now  sought  for,  not  only  at  home  but  abroad.  If  you 
violate  that  solemn  pledge  given  to  your  country  and  to  the  world,  what 
will  be  thi  effect  on  your  securities  ?  Let  Congress  violate  that  pledge,  and 
you  will  see  your  boa, Is  not  only  not  worth  10i£  but  you  will  see  them  below 
85.  .  .  .  The  world  abroad  does  not  believe  your  simple  asseveration  that 
you  would  impose  a  tax,  but  the  people  of  this  Union  do  and  consequently 
they  themselves  have  carried  your  bonds  from  90  to  104|.  But  the  world 
does  not  take  them.  Impose  your  tax  ;  carry  out  your  solemn  pledges,  and  you 
will  see  your  bonds  eagerly  sought  for  in  the  moneyed  centers  of  the  world. 
.  .  I  hope  we  shall  not  only  carry  out  this  pledge  which  we  have  given, 
but  I  care  not  if  we  exceed  it.  ...  Under  this  pledge  .  .  .  you  are 
now  able  to  borrow  money  at  six  per  cent,  instead  of  seven  and  three- tenths, 
and  you  arc  to  day  reaping  the  reward  of  your  pledge  of  good  faith. 

All  just  tax  measures  Mr.  Chandler  vigorously  supported,  as 
furnishing  the  solid  basis  of  national  credit  and  public  integrity, 
and  time  established  the  ability  and  the  willingness  of  the  people 
to  sustain  this  war  burden.  Had  the  heavy  taxation  been  accom 
panied  by  an  adherence  to  sound  principles  in  the  management 
of  the  currency  and  a  resort  to  borrowing  when  needed,  it 
would  have  reduced  the  cost  of  conquering  the  rebellion  by  at 
least  81,000,000,000,  probably  by  nearly  one -half. 

The  maintenance  of  the  public  credit  at  a  high  standard  was 
exceedingly  important  during  the  war,  but  it  was  of  no  less 
moment  after  the  collapse  of  the  rebellion,  and  is  as  great 
to  •  day  as  it  has  ever  been.  On  no  public  question  was  Mr. 


326  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Chandler  more  vigilant  and  outspoken  than  on  this.  Any  attack 
on  the  integrity  of  the  national  promise  represented  by  the 
bonds  of  the  United  States  he  denounced  vigorously,  whether  it 
it  took  on  the  form  of  the  taxation  of  these  securities,  or  of 
propositions  to  pay  them  in  depreciated  currency,  or  of  bald 
repudiation.  On  May  20,  1862,  he  said,  upon  the  proposition  to 
tax  the  bonds : 

I  believe  it  to  be  for  the  best  interest  of  the  government  —  not  for  the 
benefit  of  moneyed  men,  not  for  the  benefit  of  moneyed  institution's,  but  for 
the  benefit  of  this  government  —  to  proclaim  in  advance  that  we  will  never 
tax  these  bonds.  I  believe  we  shall  receive  the  quid  pro  quo  now,  to-day,  or 
whenever  we  negotiate.  It  is  for  our  interest,  not  for  the  interest  of  moneyed 
institutions,  to  offer  these  bonds.  Here  is  the  best  security  in  the  world,  and 
we  proclaim  to  the  world,  if  you  take  these  bonds  they  shall  never  be  taxed. 
I  believe  we  shall  realize  more  to  day,  or  to  -  morrow,  or  this  year,  or  next  year, 
for  these  bonds  by  thai  course,  than  if  we  were  to  impose  a  tax  of  one  and 
a -halt',  or  three,  or  five,  or  any  other  per  cent.  These  bonds  are  negotiable. 
We  are  the  negotiators.  They  are  not  in  the  hands  of  third  parties.  We  are 
to  borrow  for  our  daily  wants,  .  .  .  and  I  believe  it  to  be  for  the  interest 
of  the  government  to  declare  in  advance  that  there  shall  never  be  a  tax  of 
any  sort,  kind  or  description  upon  these  bonds  which  we  are  now  offering  to 
the  world  in  such  enormous  quantities. 

Mr.  Chandler  said,  in  1868,  in  a  public  address  at  Battle 
Creek,  Mich.,  (on  August  21): 

The  national  debt  is  a  sacred  obligation  upon  this  government,  and  it  is 
to  be  paid,  every  dollar  of  it.  But  it  is  a  Democratic  debt,  every  dollar.  If 
anybody  should  talk  of  repudiation  it  should  be  the  Republican  party,  who  had 
no  instrumentality  in  creating  it.  But  did  you  ever  hear  a  Republican  talk  of 
repudiating  it  ?  It  is  a  large  debt.  It  is  the  price  we  pay  for  government. 
Is  the  government  worth  the  cost  ?  If  it  is,  then  the  debt  is  not  only  an 
honest  debt,  but  it  has  been  worthily  contracted.  The  Democrats  propose  to 
pay  this  debt  in  greenbacks,  and  they  propose  to  pay  the  greenbacks  by 
issuing  more  greenbacks.  What  do  we  gain  by  that  ?  Issue  $2,500,000,000 
more  greenbacks  and  they  would  not  be  worth  the  paper  they  are  printed  on, 
because  the  supply  would  flood  the  country  and  be  greater  than  the  demand. 
.  .  .  It  is  a  measure  of  fraudulent  repudiation.  In  five  or  ten  years  the 
country  might  recover  financially,  but  we  would  never  wipe  out  the  national 
disgrace  that  would  follow  that  repudiation.  It  means  the  absolute  annihila 
tion  of  all  values.  These  extra  issues  would  be  utterly  worthless. 


THE    CURRENCY.  327 

Mr.  Chandler  accordingly  voted  for  the  act  of  March  18,  1869, 
which  formally  declared  that  the  United  States  would  redeem 
its  "  greenbacks "  and  pay  the  interest  and  principal  of  its  long 
term  bonds  in  coin,  and  which  was  simply  a  new  pledge  that 
the  government  would  do  what  it  was  already  honorably  bound 
to  do  both  by  fair  construction  of  its  own  legislation  and  by 
the  explicit  and  repeated  promises  of  its  agents.  The  full  main 
tenance  of  the  public  faith,  both  as  a  matter  of  honor  and  of 
wise  policy,  he  always  upheld,  and  saw  his  arguments  sustained 
and  his  prophecies  made  good  in  the  steady  improvement  of  the 
nation's  credit  and  the  refunding  of  its  debt  at  greatly  reduced 
rates  of  interest. 

Of  the  national  banking  system  Mr.  Chandler  was  an  origi-| 
nal  supporter.  He  regarded  it  as  certain  to  become  a  lasting! 
feature  of  the  fiscal  system  of  the  United  States,  and  as  destined* 
to  ultimately  furnish  the  paper  money  of  the  Union.  Thd 
uniformity  of  its  circulation,  the  security  afforded  to  bill  -  holders, 
and  the  excellent  results  attending  its  method  of  governmental 
supervision,  he  considered  as  unanswerable  arguments  in  favor 
of  its  permanent  maintenance.  It  was  his  firm  opinion  that 
ultimately  these  banks  would  furnish  all  the  national  currency, 
and  that  their  notes  would  supplant  the  "greenbacks."  If 
national  banking  should  be  kept  free,  and  redemption  in  coin 
required  by  law,  he  believed  that  the  result  would  be  a 
thoroughly  -  secured  and  readily  -  convertible  paper  currency,  whose 
volume  would  be  controlled  by  commercial  demand  and  not  by 
legislative  caprice  or  political  agitation,  and  which  would  lubri 
cate  and  not  obstruct  the  machinery  of  trade. 

"When  the  national  bank  bill  first  made  its  appearance  in 
Congress,  Mr.  Chandler  (in  February,  1863)  favored  it  as  a 
measure  of  relief  offering  a  quick  market  for  $300,000,000  of 
government  bonds,  and  as  sure  to  supply  "a  better  currency 
than  the  local  banks  now  furnish."  Holding  the  views  he  did, 


328  ZAOHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

he  supported  the  measures  which  promised  to  substitute  bank 
notes  for  "greenbacks,"  although  he  opposed  those  which  contem 
plated  tiny  expansion  of  the  aggregate  volume  of  both  issues. 
For  instance,  in  1870,  when  the  inflation  element  in  Congress 
introduced  a  bill  to  add  $52,000,000  to  the  national  bank  circu 
lation  ( banking  was  not  then  free,  it  not  being  deemed  prudent 
to  leave  the  issue  unlimited  while  all  the  paper  money  was 
irredeemable),  he  offered  on  January  31  an  amendment  to  make 
he  sum  8100,000,000  and  to  withdraw  "greenbacks"  to  an 
amount  equal  to  the  bank  notes  issued  under  this  provision.  He 
said: 

The  simple  effect  of  my  proposition,  if  adopted,  will  be  to  keep  the  circu 
lation  to  a  dolLir  where  it  is.  If  no  new  banks  are  started,  no  greenbacks  are 
withdrawn,  and  if  banks  are  started  anywhere,  then  an  amount  of  greenbacks 
must  be  withdrawn  equal  to  the  amount  of  national  bank  bills  put  in  circula 
tion.  Should  the  whole  $103,000,000  be  taken  we  will  be  just  $100,000,000 
nearer  to  specie  payments  than  we  are  to-day,  .  .  .  and  in  the  meantime 
the  amount  of  national  currency  will  not  be  changed  in  the  slightest  degree. 

MR.  SUMNER  :     There  is  salvation  in  that. 

MR.  CHANDLER  •     Of  course  there  is  salvation  in  it ;  that  is  why  I  offer  it. 

All  proposals  made  at  the  time  to  increase  the  aggregate 
paper  circulation  he  resisted,  saying : 

That  is  a  step  in  the  wrong  direction.  ...  If  you  let  it  go  out  that 
this  is  to  be  the  policy  of  Congress,  you  will  see  g)ld  go  up  immediately, 
.  .  .  because  it  will  show  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  is  in 
favor  of  expansion  instead  of  a  reduction  of  the  currency. 

After  the  panic  of  1873,  when  there  was  such  a  universal 
clamor  for  further  inflation,  and  scores  of  propositions  were 
introduced  to  add  many  millions  to  the  existing  volume  of 
"greenbacks"  and  of  bank  notes,  Mr.  Chandler  again  insisted  at 
all  proper  opportunities  that  resumption  was  the  most  essential 
step  toward  financial  soundness,  and  that  the  substitution  of  bank 
notes  for  "greenbacks"  would  aid  greatly  both  in  reaching  and 
in  maintaining  specie  payment.  On  Feb.  18,  1874,  he  offered  an 


THE    CURRENCY.  329 

amendment  to  a  pending  bill,  directing  "the  Secretary  of  the 
"Treasury  to  retire  and  destroy  one  dollar  in  'legal  tender'  notes 
"  for  each  and  every  dollar  of  additional  issue  of  bank  notes," 
and  spoke  upon  this  proposition  at  length.  He  did  not  urge  it 
as  a  complete  remedy  for  the  existing  situation  (contraction  and 
resumption  would  alone  furnish  that ),  but  he  said : 

This  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction.  In  1865  I  advocated  upon  this  floor 
the  substitution  of  bank  notes  for  greenbacks  as  a  step  toward  the  resumption 
of  specie  payments,  and  a  rapid  step  toward  that  resumption.  I  am  now  sim 
ply  advocating  what  I  advocated  then. 

Mr.  Chandler's  wishes  on  this  subject  were  not  gratified  at 
that  time  nor  during  his  life,  but  before  his  death  he  saw  the 
demand  that  the  Treasury  should  cease  to  be  a  bank  of  issue 
approved  by  the  soundest  financial  sentiment  of  the  country. 
His  balief,  that  the  paper  money  of  the  Union  should  be  fur 
nished  by  commercial  institutions  operating  under  j  roperly  regu 
lated  governmental  supervision,  that  is,  by  the  national  banking 
system  perfected  and  enlarged,  has  been  long  held  by  the 
ablest  and  clearest  students  of  monetary  problems  in  the  United 
States;  it  is  to-day  constantly  growing  in  popular  strength,  and 
the  result  it  aims  at  will  form  part  of  any  durable  settlement  of 
"  the  currency  question." 

In  1873  the  vacillating  and  halting  financial  policy  of  the 
nation  —  which  had  tried  and  abandoned  contraction,  and  while 
looking  toward  the  resumption  of  specie  payments  had,  in  fact, 
retreated  from  it  —  bore  fruit  in  speculative  collapses,  followed 
by  a  panic  in  business  circles  and  widespread  commercial  disaster. 
Congress  met  amid  the  crumbling  of  unsound  enterprise,  and 
was  called  upon  to  meet  a  terrified  demand  for  a  renewed  infla 
tion  of  the  already  excessive  volume  of  irredeemable  paper.  To 
cure  the  fever,  men  demanded  more  miasma.  To  repair  the  ruin, 
which  all  history  proved  to  be  the  natural  result  of  an  over- 
supply  of  currency,  it  was  proposed  to  still  further  increase  that 


330  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER 

supply.  Measures  to  this  end  were  introduced  at  once,  and 
pushed  with  great  vehemence.  They  were  sustained  by  a  misled 
but  powerful  public  sentiment,  which  was  especially  strong  in 
the  West  and  influenced  the  great  mass  of  that  section's  repre 
sentatives  at  Washington.  Mr.  Chandler  never  served  his  country 
better  than  he  did  in  that  hour.  Unmoved  by  the  clamor  about 
him,  and  refusing  to  listen  to  the  cries  of  even  his  own  people 
when  they  demanded  false  leadership,  he  firmly  resisted  every 
measure  of  inflation  and  every  suggestion  that  added  embarrass 
ments  to  the  business  of  the  future,  or  increased  the  difficulties 
of  preserving  the  public  faith.  The  pressure  in  favor  of  the 
inflation  bill  which  President  Grant  vetoed  was  unusually  strong. 
The  Western  Congressmen  were  almost  a  unit  for  its  passage, 
but  no  solicitations,  no  force  of  numbers,  prevented  Mr.  Chandler 
from  opposing  and  denouncing  it.  His  speech  in  opposition  to 
this  bill  (on  Jan.  20,  1874)  commenced  with  one  of  his  terse 
sentences,  which  went  straight  to  the  marrow  of  the  situation, 
and  furnished  a  motto  for  the  cause  he  championed.  It  was, 
"  We  need  one  thing  besides  more  money,  and  that  is  better 
money."  This  phrase  furnished  the  text  for  many  addresses  and 
editorials,  and  stood  upon  the  title-page  of  the  weekly  circular 
issued  by  the  friends  of  a  sound  currency  in  Boston  during  the 
controversy  which  preceded  the  passage  of  the  Resumption  act 
of  1875.  In  the  same  speech  Mr.  Chandler  said  : 

To  insure  prosperity  we  ought  to  have  something  permanent,  something 
substantial.  Then  the  business  of  the  country  will  conform  itself  to  the  facts 
and  regulate  itself  accordingly.  This  panic  (of  1873)  was  exceptional,  as 
indeed  all  panics  are.  A  panic  among  men  is  precisely  like  a  panic  among 
animals.  I  once  saw  2,000  horses  stampede,  and  they  were  just  as  the  same 
number  of  thousands  of  men  would  be  in  a  panic.  It  is  the  feeling  of 
animal  fear,  and  one  encourages  the  other,  and  so  it  goes  on  until  it  becomes 
a  perfect  insane  rush  for  something,  nobody  knows  what.  Prior  to  this  late 
panic,  as  is  well  known,  many  of  our  capitalists  had  over -in  vested  in  wild 
railroad  schemes  ;  they  had  undertaken  to  do  impossible  things  ;  when  the 
panic  struck  them  it  ought  not  to  have  had  the  least  effect  outside  of  Wall 


THE    CURRENCY.  331 

street  and  operators  in  railroad  stocks.  But  the  panic  swept  like  a  tornado 
all  over  the  land,  affected  values  everywhere,  values  of  all  kinds.  Whoever 
had  money  in  bank  sought  to  draw  it  out  and  hide  it  away.  The  panic  was 
universal,  and  yet  this  nation  was  never  more  prosperous  than  it  was  the  day 
before  the  panic  struck.  And  to  -  day  there  is  as  much  money  in  the  Union 
as  there  was  then.  Every  dollar  that  was  here  then  is  here  now.  Besides, 
the  enormous  borrowers,  the  men  who  would  pay  any  price  for  money  —  one- 
half  per  cent,  a  day,  one  per  cent,  a  day,  or  any  other  given  price  —  have  failed 
and  gone  out  of  the  market.  And  now  the  money  is  seeking  the  legitimate 
channels  of  commerce  for  interest  and  use.  .  .  .  The  best  time  for  the 
resumption  of  specie  payment  that  has  occurred  since  the  suspension  was 
in  1865,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  when  gold  had  fallen  from  over  200  to  122. 
In  a  few  days  values  had  shrunk,  and  the  people  of  the  nation  were  compara 
tively  out  of  debt,  and  were  ready  then  for  a  resumption  of  specie  payments, 
but  the  government  was  not.  The  government  owed  more  than  $1,000,000,000, 
that  was  maturing  daily  in  the  shape  of  compound  interest  notes,  seven- 
thirties  and  other  obligations  that  must  be  funded  or  disposed  of.  Hence 
the  government  was  not  prepared  for  specie  payments  at  that  time,  although 
the  people  were.  .  .  .  From  that  day  to  this  we  have  been  drifting 
and  floating  further  and  further  away  every  hour  from  the  true  path  —  the 
resumption  of  specie  payments.  I  have  advocated  from  the  first  the  earli 
est  possible  payment  in  coin.  I  believe  there  is  no  other  standaid  of  value 
that  will  stand  the  test,  and  I  believe  the  time  has  arrived,  or  very  nearly 
arrived,  for  coming  to  it.  I  have  not  the  same  timidity  in  fixing  a  date 
that  some  of  my  friends  on  this  floor  have.  I  believe  that  if  we  were  to 
resolve  to  -  day  that  we  would  resume  the  payment  of  our  greenbacks  in  coin 
on  the  1st  day  of  January,  1875,  and  authorize  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
to  borrow  $100,000,000  in  coin  to  be  used  in  the  redemption  of  the  green 
backs,  and  sell  no  more  gold  until  the  1st  of  January,  1875,  on  that  day  we 
would  have  $200,000,000  of  coin  in  the  Treasury  for  the  redemption  of  the 
greenbacks.  I  am  not  particular  as  to  date.  I  merely  suggest  the  1st  of 
January,  1875.  But  I  would  accept  an  earlier  date  than  that  if  it  were 
deemed  more  advisable,  but  certainly  I  would  not  extend  it  more  than  six 
months  thereafter. 

It  is  no  part  of  the  business  of  this  government  to  issue  an  irredeemable 
currency.  We  cannot  afford  to  place  ourselves  beside  the  worn  out  govern 
ments  of  Europe  —  we  cannot  afford  to  place  ourselves  on  a  par  with  Ilayti 
and  Mexico  We  are  too  rich  a  people  to  do  it ;  and  it  is  a  disgrace  to  us 
as  a  nation  that  we  have  allowed  it  to  continue  one  single  hour  beyond  the 
hour  when  it  was  in  our  power  to  remedy  the  wrong. 

The  proposition  to  increase  our  paper  currency  is  a  step  in  the  wrong 
direction,  and  I,  for  one,  am  utterly  opposed  to  taking  even  one  step  in  the 
wrong  direction  when  I  know  what  the  right  direction  is. 


332  ZACHARIAH   CHANDLER 

As  part  of  the  same  general  discussion,  Mr.  Chandler  made 
a  carefully  prepared  financial  speech  in  the  Senate  on  Feb.  18, 
1874,  in  which  he  first  graphically  sketched  the  history  of  "wild 
cat  banking "  in  Michigan,  and  then  said : 

After  the  failure  of  these  banks  the  cry  was  still,  "More  money  ;  and  we 
must  have  more  money  ;  the  country  is  suffering  for  more  money."  The  cry 
was  responded  to,  and  more  money  was  furnished.  The  Treasury  of  the 
State  of  Michigan,  already  owing  $5,000,000,  undertook  to  furnish  more 
money,  and  the  State  issued  treasury  notes  ad  libitum,  and  the  "more  money" 
men  got  more  money  until  the  value  of  the  state  treasury  notes,  which  have 
been  paid  to  the  last  dollar  at  par,  ran  down  to  thirty  -  seventy  cents  on  the 
dollar ;  and  almost  every  city  in  the  State,  including  the  city  of  Detroit, 
responded  to  the  cry  of  "more  money,"  and  issued  shin  -  plasters  ;  and  indi 
viduals,  realizing  that  "more  money"  was  needed,  issued  shin-plasters.  So 
the  State  of  Michigan  was  flooded  with  more  money. 

Well,  sir,  you  can  see  at  a  glance  that  the  State  of  Michigan  needed  more 
money.  We  had  as  a  people  been  speculating  almost  to  a  man.  It  was  not 
confined  to  the  merchant,  the  banker,  the  man  of  wealth  ;  but  the  mechanic, 
the  farmer,  the  laborer,  every  man  who  could  buy  a  piece  of  property  of  any 
sort,  kind,  or  description,  bought  it,  ran  in  debt,  laid  out  a  town,  sold  the 
lots,  gave  a  mortgage,  and  then  wante  I  "more  money"  to  pay  that  mortgage. 

When  the  collapse  came  it  was  absolute  ;  there  was  no  mistake  about  it  ; 
the  collapse  was  perfect.  Then  the  people  of  Michigan  had  enough  of  "more 
money  ; "  and  when  our  constitutional  convention  met,  as  it  did  a  few  years 
later,  they  put  into  the  constitution  a  clause  prohibiting  the  Legislature  for 
ever  from  chartering  a  bank  or  affording  the  means  of  furnishing  "more 
money;"  and  the  people  acquiesced  in  it.  They  had  enough  of  the  "more 
.money"  cry;  and  for  twenty -five  years  there  was  no  more  cry  in  the  State 
of  Michigan  for  irredeemable  money.  .  .  .  The  losses  to  which  1  have 
referred  did  not  fall  upon  the  moneyed  men  of  the  State  of  Michigan,  the 
men  who  were  in  sound  condition.  They  fell  upon  the  laboring  man,  the 
farmer,  and  the  mechanic.  They  fell  upon  the  men  who  could  least  afford  to 
submit  to  the  loss.  So  it  is  now.  Why,  sir,  our  values  are  fixed  by  a  foreign 
market,  and  in  coin.  There  is  not  a  bushel  of  corn  or  a  bushel  of  wheat 
raised  in  Indiana,  or  Illinois,  or  Michigan,  the  value  of  which  is  not  fixed  by 
the  foreign  value  in  coin  of  that  particular  article.  When  you  enhance  the 
cost  of  production  by  an  inferior  currency  you  put  that  loss  upon  the  pro 
ducer,  and  the  loss  falls  not  upon  the  wealthy  man,  but  upon  the  laborer  and 
producer.  Money  will  take  care  of  itself  all  over  the  world.  If  it  is  not  safe  in 
this  country,  it  will  find  a  country  where  it  is  safe,  and  it  will  go  to  that 
country,  no  matter  where  that  may  be.  Hence,  capital  requires  no  protection 
whatever  from  this  body  ;  money  will  take  care  of  itself  ;  but  the  poor  man, 


THE    CURRENCY.  333 


the  laboring  man,  the  man  who  submits  to  all  the  losses  from  this  depreciated 
currency,  is  the  man  who  suffers  all  the  pain  and  all  the  injury  that  are 
inflicted  by  this  false  legislation.  .  .  . 

Now,  sir,  we  come  to  the  crash  of  1873.  On  the  15th  day  of  September, 
1873,  this  nation  was  in  a  more  prosperous  condition  than  perhaps  it  had 
been  for  the  last  twenty-five  years.  Every  branch  of  industry  was  prosperous, 
every  interest  of  the  people  was  prosperous  ;  but  in  a  day,  at  the  drop  of  the 
ball  at  twelve  o'clock  on  the  16th  of  September,  the  panic  struck.  What 
produced  this  tremendous  panic  and  crash  in  this  great  and  prosperous  coun 
try  ?  It  was  over -speculating  in  railroad  securities.  It  was  by  men  under 
taking  to  do  what  it  was  utterly  impossible  for  them  to  do,  to  wit,  for 
individuals  to  float  untold  millions  by  their  own  credit  ;  and  when  the  people 
became  alarmed  for  fear  the  crash  would  come,  the  crash  came,  and  there 
was  no  salvation  from  it.  But,  sir,  on  that  very  self -same  day  the  nation 
was  more  prosperous  than  it  had  been  for  the  last  twenty  years  in  all  its 
interests  —  business,  banking  and  every  other.  The  crash  ought  not  to  have 
extended  one  }Tard  beyond  Wall  street  and  the  few  producers  of  railroad  iron 
who  were  manufacturing  for  these  defunct  railroads.  But,  sir,  the  panic  was 
so  great  that  it  spread  until  it  became  universal,  and  values  sank  until  there 
seemed  to  be  no  bottom,  and  everybody  was  affected  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  this  broad  land. 

But,  Mr.  President,  that  panic  was  of  short  duration.  Many  failures  took 
place,  and  particularly  among  stock  and  railroad  operators  ;  but  the  main 
business  of  the  country  still  went  on  with  a  few  notable  exceptions.  Some 
manufacturers  stopped  for  the  want  of  money  ;  others  stopped  for  the  want  of 
credit.  The  men  that  had  been  issuing  their  paper  without  intending  to  pay 
it,  issuing  millions  of  dollars  of  paper  which  they  knew  they  could  not  meet 
at  maturity,  trusting  in  luck  to  meet  their  obligations  —  those  men  cannot 
borrow  money ;  their  lines  are  full  everywhere ;  nobody  will  loan  them 
money  ;  but,  sir,  upon  undoubted  security  money  is  to  -  day  cheaper  than  it 
has  been  at  any  time  for  the  last  twenty  years.  These  great  borrowers,  with 
out  the  expectation  of  paying  at  maturity,  are  to-day  all  out  of  the  market. 
No  man  will  loan  money  to  a  person  who  does  not  pay  at  maturity.  Every 
man  that  desires  to  borrow  money  for  legitimate  business  can  borrow  it  to  -  day 
cheaper  than  he  could  borrow  it  at  any  time  in  the  last  twenty  years.  Sir, 
you  may  legislate  for  this  class  who  have  over -speculated,  you  may  legislate 
for  the  benefit  of  the  men  who  have  built  factories,  built  steamboats,  built 
mills,  bought  mills,  bought  mines,  bought  everything  for  sale,  and  given  their 
paper  knowing  they  could  not  meet  it  unless  they  could  borrow  the  money 
over  again  ;  you  may  legislate  them  $100,000,000  or  $1,000,000,000,  and  you 
will  not  help  them  in  the  slightest  degree.  .  .  . 

Now,  Mr.  President,  I  will  ask  the  attention  of  the  Senate  while  I  show 
the  effect  upon  the  purchasing  value  of  money  of  issuing  your  greenback  cir 
culation  from  the  day  it  was  first  issued  to  the  present  time.  In  1862  we 


334  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

commenced  the  issue  of  greenbacks.  In  January,  1862.  the  premium  on 
gold  was  2.5  per  cent.;  in  February  it  was  3.5;  in  March,  1.8;  in  April, 
1.5  ;  in  May,  1.3  ;  in  June,  6.5  ,  in  July,  15.5  ;  in  August,  14.5  ;  in  Septem 
ber,  18.5;  in  October,  28.5,  in  November,  31.1  ;  in  December,  32.3.  It  w^ill 
be  remembered  that  the  then  circulating  medium  ( which  was  at  that  tirr>°. 
state  bank  notes)  amounted  to  about  $200,000,000.  This  circulation  was 
increased  during  the  year  1882  by  the  addition  of  $147,000,000  in  greenbacks, 
and  that  increase  of  circulation  carried  the  value  of  gold  from  102.5  on  the 
1st  of  January  to  132.3  on  the  31st  day  of  December  following. 

In  1863  the  necessities  of  the  government  compelled  us  to  increase  the 
greenback  circulation  to  a  yet  larger  extent.  We  issued  during  that  year 
$263,500,000  additional,  carrying  up  our  greenback  circulation  to  $411,200,000, 
in  addition,  of  course,  to  our  bank  circulation,  whatever  it  may  have  been. 
During  the  month  of  January  of  that  year  the  premium  on  gold  was  45.1  per 
cent.;  during  February,  60  5;  March,  54.5  ;  April,  51.5  ;  May,  48.9  ,  June,  44.5, 
July,  30.6  ;  August,  25,8  ,  September,  34,2  ;  October,  47.7  ,  November,  48  ; 
December,  51.1.  In  other  words,  the  average  rate  of  premium  upon  gold 
during  that  whole  year  was  45,2  per  cent.  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  paper  show 
ing  the  cash  value  of  this  emission  for  1863.  The  emission  of  greenbacks  at 
that  time  was  $411,200,000  The  average  premium  on  gold  was  45  2  per  cent. 
The  actual  cash  purchasing  value  of  that  $411,000,000,  during  the  year  1863, 
was  $283,195,000,  and  that  was  the  whole  purchasing  value  of  that  money 
during  that  year. 

Then  we  come  to  the  next  year,  1864.  That  year,  we  increased  our  circu 
lating  medium  by  the  addition  of  $237,900,000,  making  the  whole  amount 
$6 i'),  100,030.  In  1864  the  price  of  gold  was,  in  Januaiy,  155.5  ;  February, 
158  6,  March,  162.6  ;  April,  172.7;  May,  176.3  ;  June,  m?;  July,  258.1  ,  or  less 
than  40  cents  on  the  dollar  in  coin  for  your  greenbacks  after  you  had  carried 
the  amount  up  to  $649,000,000.  In  August  the  price  was  254.1-  in  Septem 
ber,  222  5  ,  in  October,  207.2  ;  in  November,  233.5  .  in  December,  227.5.  There 
is  not  a  man  here  who  does  not  remember,  nor  is  there  a  farmer  or  mechanic 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  who  does  not  remember,  that 
he  then  paid  60  cents  for  cotton  goods  that  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  buy 
ing  for  12£  cents,  and  that  he  paid  for  everything  else  in  the  same  ratio.  The 
merchant  took  care  that  he  met  with  no  loss  ;  but  the  laboring  man,  the 
farmer,  the  man  of  muscle,  was  the  man  who  submitted  to  this  great  loss, 
while  the  merchant  and  while  every  man  with  money  took  care  of  himself. 

During  that  year  the  average  price  of  gold  was  203.3  per  cent.,  or  your 
money  was  a  fraction  less  than  48i  cents  on  the  dollar  during  the  whole  year. 
You  had  out  that  year  $649,100,000,  and  the  value  of  gold  was  203.3,  and 
the  purchasing  value  of  your  $649,100,003  was  $319,281,000,  and  that  was  the 
whole  of  it. 

In  1865  you  again  increased  the  volume  of  your  circulating  medium  by 
the  amount  of  $49,800,000 ;  making  the  whole  amount  of  your  circulation 


THE    CURRENCY.  335 

$698,900.000.  During  the  month  of  January,  1865,  the  price  of  gold  was 
216.2;  during  February,  205.5;  in  March,  173.8;  in  April,  148.5;  and  after 
that  it  stood  at  135.6,  140.1,  142.1,  143.5,  143.9,  145.5,  147,  146.2.  The  aver 
age  of  the  year  1865  was  157.3  ;  and  what  was  the  purchasing  value  of  your 
greenbacks  that  year  ?  Every  man  here  will  remark  that  that  year  we  were 
disposing  of  our  bonds  at  the  rate  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  a  mouth; 
money  was  passing  through  the  Treasury  almost  without  limit.  We  had 
$1,000,000,000  that  must  be  negotiated,  and  negotiated  at  once  —  seven -thirties 
and  compound -interest  notes  and  other  floating  liabilities  that  must  be  funded; 
and  during  that  year  the  war  had  closed,  and  while  we  were  negotiating  at  this 
enormous  rate,  the  price  of  gold  fell  to  153.3,  and  during  that  year  the  pur 
chasing  value  of  our  circulation  attained  a  higher  rate  than  during  any  other 
year.  That  year,  although  our  circulation  of  greenbacks  was  $698,900,000, 
and  the  premium  on  gold  57.3,  the  actual  purchasing  value  of  that  $698,900,- 
000  was  $444,310,000. 

In  1868  we  retired  $90,000,000,  leaving  $608,900,000,  and  the  average  pre 
mium  on  gold  that  year  was  40.9  per  cent.  The  purchasing  value  of  the 
$608,900,000,  with  the  premium  on  gold  at  40.9,  was  $432,150,000. 

The  next  year,  1867,  we  retired  $72,300,000,  and  premium  on  gold  fell  to 
38.2.  So  we  went  on  reducing  until  we  got  down  to  $400,000,000,  and  then 
we  struck  14.9,  11.7,  12.4  and  14.7  as  the  premium  on  gold.  There  the  mat 
ter  has  stood,  and  I  have  here  from  year  to  year,  the  purchasing  value  for 
each  year.  .  .  . 

Mr.  President,  what  we  want  is  purchasing  value,  because  the  intrinsic 
value  is  measured  by  the  purchasing  value.  There  is  not  a  bushel  of  wheat 
that  goes  from  your  State  or  from  mine  the  purchasing  value  of  which  is  not 
fixed  by  the  gold  value  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  We  are  shipping 
millions  and  tens  of  millions  and  hundreds  of  millions  of  our  agricultural  pro 
ducts  every  year,  and  the  value  of  these  products  is  fixed  in  gold  on  the  other- 
side  of  the  Atlantic  ;  and  yet  by  this  increase  of  circulation  we  enhance  the. 
value  of  everything  that  the  producer  raises,  but  when  the  product  comes  to  the 
market  its  value  must  be  fixed  by  its  price  in  gold  across  the  Atlantic.  ,  .  . 

Mr  President,  I  know  of  no  way  to  substitute  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States  for  the  banking  experience  of  the  last  ten  centuries.  We  have  the 
experience  of  the  past,  we  have  the  experience  of  our  own  nation,  we  have 
the  experience  of  the  world.  Now,  do  we  propose  to  throw  aside  this  experi 
ence,  and  to  launch  our  boat  upon  a  wild  and  uncertain  sea,  an  ocean  of 
expansion  and  no  payments  ? 

Sir,  there  are  very  few  persons  within  the  range  of  my  acquaintance 
who  desire  expansion  of  an  irredeemable  currency.  Certainly  the  people  of 
Michigan  have  had  abundance  of  experience  of  that  kind.  But  wherever 
you  go  you  will  find  two  classes  of  men  who  are  making  a  great  noise  about 
"more  money."  One  is  the  speculator,  the  impecunious  speculator,  who  has, 
perhaps,  bought  real  estate  and  given  a  mortgage,  and  thinks  that  his  only 


336  ZAOHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

chance  is  to  reduce  the  value  of  your  currency  until  it  falls  so  low  that  the 
people  would  rather  take  his  land  than  hold  your  money  ;  and  the  other  is 
the  man  who  has  issued  his  paper  without  intending  to  pay  when  it  matures, 
and  who  can  borrow  no  more  money  upon  any  terms  until  he  pays  what  he 
already  owes. 

On  the  14tli  of  January,  1875,  the  act  for  the  resumption 
of  specie  payments  became  a  law.  Mr.  Chandler  was  a  member 
of  the  Senate  when  this  bill  passed.  He  had  but  one  objection 
to  it ;  the  time  fixed  for  resumption  was  unnecessarily  remote. 
Neither  present  exigency  nor  needed  preparation  required  the 
delay,  and  he  believed  it  to  be  opposed  alike  to  economy, 
patriotism,  and  public  honor.  But  it  was  the  best  that  could  be 
secured ;  insistence  upon  an  earlier  date  would  have  divided  the 
friends  of  resumption,  prevented  the  passage  of  any  bill  at  that 
time,  and  postponed  the  day  of  specie  payments.  For  these 
reasons  Mr.  Chandler  favored  the  measure,  and  a  few  weeks  later, 
when  he  retired  from  the  Senate,  it  was  with  the  consciousness 
that  he  had  only  voted  for  an  irredeemable  and  inconvertible 
currency  to  meet  the  imperious  exigencies  of  civil  war,  that 
he  had  opposed  its  undue  expansion,  that  he  had  sustained 
every  measure  of  contraction  calculated  to  lessen  the  difficulties 
of  the  return  to  a  sound  basis,  and  that  he  finally  had  crowned 
his  Senatorial  career  by  support  of  a  measure  which  insured 
the  return  of  the  government  to  the  constitutional  standard  of 
values. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

SECRETARY    OF    THE    INTERIOR    IN    THE    CABINET    OF    PRESIDENT     GRANT. 

'IGHTEEN  Hundred  and  Seventy -four  was  a  year  of 
unusual  political  disaster.  The  prevalent  commercial 
depression  both  naturally  and  seriously  injured  the  party 
in  power,  and  this  and  other  causes  combined  to  pro 
duce  a  general  relaxation  of  Republican  vigor,  which  bore  its 
inevitable  fruit  in  a  series  of  damaging  reverses  in  the  fall  elec 
tions  throughout  the  Union.  The  contest  in  Michigan  was 
complicated  by  an  organized  movement  on  the  part  of  the 
opponents  of  Prohibition  to  secure  a  repeal  of  that  State's 
stringent  law  against  the  liquor  traffic,  and  to  more  surely  reach 
that  end  its  License  League  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Democ 
racy,  by  which  the  latter  was  greatly  aided.  The  result  was  that 
the  Republican  plurality  upon  the  State  ticket  was  reduced  to 
5,969  in  a  total  vote  of  221,006,  that  three  of  the  nine  Con 
gressional  districts  were  carried  by  the  Opposition,  and  that  a 
Legislature  was  chosen  in  which  the  Republican  majority  upon 
joint  ballot  was  but  ten.  Upon  this  body,  so  closely  divided, 
devolved  the  choice  of  an  United  States  Senator.  To  a  man  of 
Mr.  Chandler's  positive  qualities  and  aggressive  methods  an 
active  public  life  was  impossible  without  creating  strong  enmi 
ties,  and  the  attention  which,  had  he  been  more  subtle,  lie 
would  have  given  to  conciliating  hostility  his  direct  nature  pre 
ferred  to  devote  to  showing  appreciation  of  friendship.  The 
equality  of  parties  in  the  Legislature,  and  the  passing  disposition 
among  Republicans  to  look  with  disfavor  upon  what  has  been 
since  termed  "  stalwart  leadership,"  supplied  the  local  opposition 
22 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

to  Mr.  Chandler  with,  the  looked  -  for  opportunity  for  successfully 
resisting  his  re-election.  Michigan  Republicanism  as  a  whole 
gave  him  its  usual  hearty  support,  and,  so  far  as  the  contest  was 
waged  within  the  recognized  lines  of  partisan  warfare,  his  per 
sonal  triumph  was  nattering  and  signal.  In  the  regular  caucus 
he  received  fifty -two  votes  against  live  ballots  cast  for  three 
other  candidates,  and  his  nomination  was  made  unanimous  with 
but  one  dissenting  voice.  A  small  Republican  minority  refused 
to  participate  in  the  caucus,  arid  after  a  prolonged  and  exciting 
struggle  a  combination  was  formed  between  six  of  these  men 
and  the  solid  Democratic  and  Liberal  Opposition,  which  ( on  the 
second  ballot  in  the  legislative  joint  convention)  gave  precisely 
the  necessary  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast  to  Isaac  P.  Chris- 
tiancy,  then  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Michi 
gan.  Mr.  Christiancy  was  an  original  Republican,  but  had  in 
some  instances  in  the  past  so  far  satisfied  the  Democrats  by  his 
public  course  that  he  had  been  once  re-elected  to  the  Supreme 
Bench  without  opposition,  his  name  having  been  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  Democratic  State  ticket  after  his  nomination  by  his 
own  party.  This  fact  materially  facilitated  the  coalition  which 
secured  Mr.  Chandler's  defeat.  Like  results  in  pending  Sena 
torial  contests  in  Wisconsin,  Minnesota  and  Nebraska  showed 
that  more  than  merely  local  influences  had  contributed  to  bring 
about  this  event. 

Mr.  Chandler,  with  that  strong  faith  in  his  own  position 
which  was  so  useful  a  characteristic  of  the  man,  did  not  believe 
that  his  defeat  was  possible  until  it  was  accomplished.  His  dis 
appointment  was  keen,  but  he  bore  it  manfully,  and,  assuring 
his  friends  that  he  should  be  "  a  candidate  for  that  seat  when 
Judge  Christiancy's  term  ended,"  he  started  for  Washington  to 
close  up  his  eighteen  years  of  continuous  Senatorial  service. 
Many  and  sincere  were  the  expressions  of  grief  among  earnest 
Republicans  everywhere  at  what  seemed  to  be  the  abrupt  termina- 


IN    THE    CABINET.  339 

tion  of  the  public  career  of  so  influential  a  man.  Mr.  Chandler 
himself  was  as  strongly  affected  by  his  fear  that  Kepublican- 
ism  might  have  received  a  severe  blow  from  the  method  by 
which  his  re-election  had  been  prevented  as  by  any  sense  of 
mere  personal  failure.  In  a  letter  written  in  the  following 
March,  in  response  to  an  invitation  from  the  great  majority  of 
the  Eepublican  legislators  of  Michigan  to  address  them  on  polit 
ical  topics,  he  said  : 

Thanking  you  cordially  for  your  continued  confidence,  I  assure  you  most 
sincerely  that  when  I  enlisted  in  tho  Republican  ranks  it  was  for  the  whole 
war,  which,  I  trust,  is  to  bo  continued  until  the  complete  and  final  triumph 
of  Republican  principles,  the  pacification  of  the  whole  people,  and  the  estab 
lishment  of  equal  and  exact  justice  for  all  men  in  every  section  of  our  com 
mon  country.  It  will  be  my  pride  to  prove  to  my  friends,  and  to  my 
enemies,  if  there  are  such,  that  I  can  be  useful  as  a  private  soldier.  In  all 
the  future  contests  of  the  Republican  party  with  its  opponents  you  may  order 
me  into  the  ranks  with  full  confidence  that  I  will  respond  with  all  my  time, 
if  need  be,  and  with  such  ability  as  I  can  command.  .  .  .  We  shall  not 
yield  in  the  forum  the  great  principles  which  have  triumphed  in  the  field, 
nor  shall  we  further  waste  in  internal  strife  the  strength  which  should  be 
organized  against  our  opponents.  I  have  faith  in  the  future  of  our  country, 
because  of  my  confidence  in  the  continued  success  of  the  Republican  party. 

Ultimately  it  became  evident  that  his  defeat  in  IS 75  was  not 
a  personal  calamity ,  he  himself  afterward  saw  that  it  had  opened 
the  way  for  him  to  broader  fields  of  public  usefulness,  and  that 
in  what  then  seemed  to  be  a  fall  he  had  in  fact  only  "stumbled 
up  stairs.'' 

After  the  termination  of  Mr.  Chandler's  third  Senatorial 
term  (on  March  3,  18T5),  his  name  was  connected,  both  in  cur 
rent  rumor  and  in  the  deliberations  of  influential  men,  with 
several  prominent  positions.  It  was  at  one  time  predicted  that 
he  would  be  nominated  for  the  St.  Petersburg  embassy,  and  at 
another  that  he  would  succeed  Mr.  Bristow  as  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  Ground  was  not  lacking  for  both  reports,  but  the 
appointment  which  was  actually  made  involved  a  far  more  com 
plete  test  of  his  faculty  of  administration  than  would  have 


34:0  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

attended  either  of  the  others.  The  Interior  Department  is  the 
most  complex  division  of  the  executive  branch  of  the  government. 
A  great  diversity  of  interests  are  under  its  charge,  and  its  duties 
are  dissimilar,  widely  ramified,  and  encumbered  with  a  perplexing 
multiplicity  of  details.  During  President  Grant's  second  term 
this  Department,  notwithstanding  the  personal  honesty  of  Secre 
tary  Columbus  Delano,  had  fallen  into  bad  repute.  It  sheltered 
abuses  and  frauds  which  tainted  the  atmosphere,  but  were  not 
hunted  down  and  removed  by  its  chiefs.  From  the  scandals 
which  this  state  of  affairs  created,  Mr.  Delano  finally  sought 
escape  by  a  resignation,  which  took  effect  on  Oct.  1,  1875.  Gen 
eral  Grant,  who  was  determined  to  appoint  to  the  place  a  man 
whose  integrity,  sagacity  and  vigor  should  make  it  certain  that 
he  would  not  tolerate  incompetence  and  rascality  among  his  sub 
ordinates,  tendered  the  position  to  Mr.  Chandler.  After  some 
hesitation,  and  no  little  urging  by  his  friends,  that  gentleman 
accepted,  and  on  Oct.  19,  1875,  his  commission  as  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  was  executed  and  sent  to  him.  (His  nomination 
was,  on  the  meeting  of  Congress  in  December,  promptly  con 
firmed  by  the  Senate,  all  of  the  Republican  and  three  of  the 
Democratic  Senators  voting  affirmatively,  with  only  six  Demo 
crats  recorded  in  the  negative).  Mr.  Chandler  entered  at  once 
upon  the  discharge  of  his  new  and  difficult  duties.  No  man 
could  have  had  less  of  the  professional  "reformer"  about  him 
—  in  fact  he  was  not  chary  of  expressing  the  most  contemptuous 
skepticism  concerning  much  that  paraded  itself  as  "  reform  "- 
but  the  exemplification  which  he  gave  of  practical  reform  was 
at  once  thorough  and  brilliant.  Without  ostentation,  without  the 
faintest  savor  of  cant,  he  went  at  his  work  in  unpretentious, 
business-like,  manful,  and  clear -sighted  fashion.  A  firm  believer 
himself  that  u  corruption  wins  not  more  than  honesty,"  he  gave 
durable  lessons  on  that  theme  in  every  bureau  of  the  Interior 
Department. 


IN    THE    CABINET. 


341 


The  first  step  of  Mr.  Chandler's  administration  was  the  infu 
sion  of  new  blood.  He  applied  to  James  M.  Edmunds  for  aid 
in  the  selection  of  a  Chief  Clerk,  and  was  by  him  advised  to 
tender  that  important  position  to  Alouzo  Bell,  then  holding  a 


THE    INTKKIOK    DEPARTMENT."* 

place  in  the    Treasury.     What   followed   illustrates   some  of   Mr. 
Chandler's    methods   of   transacting   business : 

Mr.   Bell,  at    his    desk    in    the    Winder    Building,   received    a 

*This  massive  edifice  is  popularly  known  as  "The  Patent  Office,"  because  its  main 
halls  are  occupied  by  the  magnificent  model  rooms  of  the  Bureau  of  Patents. 


342  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

dispatch  on  the  afternoon  of  ~Nov.  8,  1875,  which  read:  "The, 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  desires  to  see  you."  On  the  next 
morning  at  nine  o'clock  he  was  in  waiting  in  the  ante  -  chamber 
of  Secretary  Chandler's  office,  and  shortly  thereafter  that  gen 
tleman  entered.  In  a  few  moments  Mr.  Bell  was  summoned 
into  his  room,  and  Mr.  Chandler  said,  "  Good  morning,  Mr.  Bell. 
u  I  suppose  General  Cowen  ( the  then  Assistant  Secretary )  has 
"  told  you  what  the  business  with  you  is  ? "  Mr.  Bell  answered, 
u  I  have  had  a  very  pleasant  talk  with  him,  but  there  has  been 
no  business  alluded  to  by  us."  Mr.  Chandler  then  said,  "  I  have 
"  concluded  to  appoint  you  Chief  Clerk  of  the  Interior  Depart- 
"  ment ;  will  you  accept  ? "  "  Yes,  sir,"  was  the  reply.  "  Very 
well,"  said  Mr.  Chandler,  "go  ahead."  Mr.  Bell  went  at  once  to 
the  Treasury,  filed  his  resignation,  and  within  an  hour  returned 
to  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  He  found  him  in 
conference  with  two  Senators,  and  this  conversation  followed : 
"  Mr.  Secretary,  I  have  taken  the  oath  and  I  arn  ready  to  go 
to  work."  "  Very  well,  do  you  know  where  to  find  the  Chief 
Clerk's  room  ? "  "  No,  sir."  "  Well,  sir,  it  won't  take  long  to 
look  it  up."  Mr.  Bell  started  on  the  search  for  it,  and  within  a 
few  moments  had  relieved  the  gentleman  temporarily  in  charge, 
taken  possession  of  its  desk,  and  commenced  business.  Mr. 
Chandler,  also  on  recommendation  of  Mr.  Edmunds,  promoted 
John  Stiles  from  a  minor  place  to  the  Appointment  Clerkship. 
The  Assistant'  Secretaryship  of  the  Department  he  requested  the 
President  to  tender  to  Charles  T.  Gorliam  of  Michigan,  who  had 
lately  relinquished  the  embassy  of  the  United  States  at  The 
Hague.  He  believed  that  Mr.  Gorham's  business  training,  prac 
tical  ability  and  personal  attachment  to  himself  would  greatly 
aid  in  the  re  -  organization  of  the  Department,  and  only  felt 
doubtful  as  to  whether  that  gentleman  would  accept  the  position. 
In  the  end,  Mr.  Gorliam  was  induced  to  take  it,  and  the  Assist 
ant  Attorney- Generalship  wras  given  to  Augustus  S.  Gaylord  of 


IN   THE    CABINET.  343 

Saginaw,  well-known  to  Mr.  Chandler  as  a  good  lawyer  and  a 
vigilant  and  trustworthy  man.  These  changes  in  his  executive 
staff  the  new  Secretary  of  the  Interior  regarded  as  an  essential 
part  of  the  work  of  investigation  and  purification  which  was  to 
be  accomplished.* 

Within  less  than  one  month  after  the  commencement  of  Mr. 
Chandler's  term,  all  the  clerks  in  one  of  the  important  rooms 
in  the  Patent  Office  were  summarily  removed.  Examination 
had  supplied  satisfactory  proof  of  dishonesty  in  the  transaction 
of  the  business  under  their  care,  and  the  Secretary  concluded 
that  all  of  them  were  either  sharers  in  the  corruption  or  lacked 
the  vigilance  necessary  for  their  positions,  and  he  declared 
every  desk  vacant.  To  the  Hon.  Jay  A.  Hubbell,  whom  he 
met  on  the  evening  of  the  day  upon  which  he  had  taken  this 
vigorous  step,  he  said,  "I  have  been  'reforming'  to-day.  I 
"have  emptied  one  large  room  and  have  left  it  in  charge  of  a 
"  colored  porter,  who  has  the  key,  who  cannot  read  and  write, 
"  and  who  is  instructed  to  let  no  one  enter  it  without  my  orders. 
"  I  think  the  public  interests  are  safe  so  far  as  that  room  is 
"  concerned  until  I  can  find  some  better  men  to  put  into  it." 
To  the  remonstrances  which  followed  this  action  he  was  reso 
lutely  deaf,  and  to  some  influential  friends  of  one  of  the  men 
thus  displaced  he  said  significantly,  "  That  man  is  competent 
"  enough ;  if  he  thinks  that  the  cause  of  his  removal  should  be 
"  made  public,  he  can  be  accommodated ;  I  don 't  advise  him  to 
"  press  it."  Later  in  Mr.  Chandler's  term,  and  without  warning, 


•^  Much  of  Secretary  Chandler's  confidence  arises  from  the  well-known  integrity  and 
personal  reliability  of  the  several  gentlemen  sustaining  the  nearest  official  relation  to  him, 
all  of  whom  were  selected  by  his  own  free  choice,  and  from  his  own  personal  knowledge 
of  these  essential  characteristics.  General  Gorham  did  not  seek  the  office  of  Assistant 
Secretary  ;  the  office  sought  him,  and  Mr.  Chandler  himself  would  take  no  denial.  So, 
also,  of  Mr.  Gaylord,  his  able  and  untiring  Assistant  Attorney  -  General  for  the  department. 
And  the  same  is  true  of  Mr.  Partridge,  his  discreet  and  trusted  private  secretary.  Sur 
rounded  by  such  aids  he  well  knows  that  no  material  interest  can  suffer  by  any  temporary 
contingency,  such  as  the  one  which  now  occurs.  —  Washington  dispatch  to  the  Philadelphia 
"  City  Item"  oj  Oct.  20,  187  o  (referring  to  Mr.  Chandler's  temporary  absence}. 


3M  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

the  monthly  pay-rolls  of  the  Patent  Office  employes  were 
placed  in  the  custody  of  a  new  officer,  and  the  full  name  and 
city  address  of  every  one  who  signed  them  was  taken.  The 
result  was  that  for  upward  of  a  score  of  names  no  owners 
appeared,  and  it  was  thus  found  that  money  had  been  dishonestly 
drawn  in  the  past  by  some  one  through  the  device  of  fictitious 
clerkships.  It  was  also  ascertained  that  in  a  few  cases  work 
requiring  expert  skill  had  been  given  to  unqualified  persons  who 
had  "farmed  it  out"  to  others  at  reduced  rates,  and  were  thus 
receiving  pay  without  rendering  service.  These  disclosures  led  to 
further  prompt  removals  of  those  implicated  in  the  frauds,  and 
to  the  eradication  of  the  abuses  thus  exposed.  In  this  bureau 
some  change  of  methods  was  also  made  which  simplified  the 
transaction  of  business,  and  increased  the  facilities  for  procuring 
patents  while  lessening  their  cost  to  the  public. 

The  Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs  Mr.  Chandler  found  to  be 
more  utterly  unsavory  in  reputation  than  any  other  division 
of  his  Department.  Besides  securing  a  new  Commissioner  and 
Chief  Clerk,  he  instituted  a  series  of  quiet  inquiries  into  the 
methods  of  doing  business  there,  and  soon  determined  upon 
removing  a  number  of  subordinates,  whose  records  were  unsatis 
factory  and  whoso  surroundings  were  suspicious.  He  then  sent 
for  the  Commissioner  and  notified  him  of  this  decision,  but  that 
officer  replied  that  they  were  the  most  valuable  men  he  had, 
and  that  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  conduct  the  business 
of  the  bureau  without  them.  The  urgency  of  his  protest  finally 
induced  Mr.  Chandler  to  delay  action  for  a  few  days.  While 
matters  were  in  this  state  of  suspense,  President  Grant,  who 
was  watching  with  keen  interest  the  examination  into  the  Inte 
rior  Department  offices,  said  to  its  Secretary,  u  Mr.  Chandler, 
"  have  you  removed  those  clerks  in  the  Indian  Bureau  whom  we 
"  were  talking  about  ? "  Mr.  Chandler  replied,  "  No,  sir ;  the  Com- 
u  missioner  said  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  run  the  office 


IN   THE    CABINET.  345 

"  without  them."  The  President  answered,  "  Well,  Mr.  Secretary, 
you  can  shut  up  the  bureau,  can't  you?"  The  answer  was, 
"Yes,  sir."  "  Well,  then,"  said  General  Grant,  "have  those  men 
"  dismissed  before  three  o'clock  this  afternoon,  or  shut  up  the 
"  bureau."  Mr.  Chandler  went  over  to  the  Department,  sent  for 
the  Commissioner,  told  him  that  the  suspected  clerks  must  go 
that  afternoon  if  the  bureau  was  closed  as  the  result,  and  gave 
the  necessary  orders  of  removal  which  were  promptly  executed. 
In  regard  to  the  dismissal  of  these  men,  he  said,  "I  haven't 
"  evidence  that  would  be  regarded  in  a  court  as  sufficient  to 
"convict  them  of  fraud  or  dishonesty,  but  to  my  mind  the 
"proof  of  their  crookedness  is  strong' as  Holy  Writ."  This  was 
only  one  of  many  instances  in  which  President  Grant  actively 
interested  himself  in  the  work  of  hunting  out  fraud,  and  there 
was  no  step  which  Mr.  Chandler  took  in  the  direction  of  honest 
and  cheaper  administration  in  which  he  was  not  cordially  and 
powerfully  sustained  at  the  White  House. 

The  "  Indian  Attorneys "  also  came  under  and  felt  the 
weight  of  the  new  Secretary's  just  displeasure.  One  of  the 
glaring  impositions  practiced  upon  the  ignorant  aborigines  was 
that  of  inducing  them,  winter  after  winter,  to  send  "  agents  "  to 
Washington  to  look  after  their  interests,  upon  representations 
made  to  them  that  the  government  would  otherwise  deprive 
them  of  some  of  their  rights.  Many  of  these  men  were  paid 
eight  dollars  a  day  and  their  expenses,  while  others  contracted 
for  certain  sums  secured  on  the  property  of  the  Indians.  In 
fact,  these  "  attorneys  "  rendered  no  needed  service  and  preyed 
upon  the  ignorance  of  their  clients.  These  men  Mr.  Chandler 
banished  from  his  Department;  he  also  declined  to  allow  the 
payment  of  claims  preferred  by  representatives  of  the  Indians 
for  "  expenses  incurred  in  procuring  legislation,"  on  the  ground 
that  such  outlay  was  illegal  and  immoral.  His  decision  on  these 
points  was  embodied  in  this  order  (addressed  on  Dec.  6,  1875, 


346  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  and  still  governing  the 
proceedings  of  that  bureau),  which  saved  large  sums  of  money 
to  the  Indians : 

Hereafter  no  payment  shall  be  made  and  no  claim  shall  be  approved  for 
services  rendered  for  or  in  behalf  of  any  tribe  or  band  of  Indians  in  the  pro 
curement  of  legislation  from  Congress  or  from  any  State  Legislature,  or  for 
the  transaction  of  any  other  business  for  or  in  behalf  of  such  Indians  before 
this  Department  or  any  bureau  thereof,  or  before  any  other  Department  of  the 
government,  and  no  contract  for  the  performance  of  such  services  will  here 
after  be  recognized  or  approved  by  the  Indian  Office  or  the  Department. 
Should  legal  advice  or  assistance  be  needed  in  the  prosecution  or  defense  of 
any  suit  involving  the  rights  of  any  Indian  or  Indians,  before  any  court  or 
other  tribunal,  it  can  be  procured  through  the  Department  of  Justice. 

This  regulation  will  govern  the  Indian  Office,  and  application  for  com 
pensation  for  such  services  must  not  be  forwarded  to  the  Department  for 
action  hereafter,  it  being  understood  that  the  regularly  -  appointed  Indian 
Agent,  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
are  competent  to  protect  and  defend  the  rights  of  Indians  in  all  respects, 
without  the  intervention  of  other  pnrties,  and  without  other  compensation  than 
the  usual  salaries  of  their  respective  offices. 

Mr.  Chandler's  experience  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior  made 
him  a  firm  believer  in  President  Grant's  policy  of  seeking  to 
civilize  the  American  savages  by  dealing  with  them  through  the 

*  >  */  O  c? 

agency  of  the  Christian  churches.  Originally  he  favored  turning 
the  management  of  Indian  affairs  over  to  the  military  arm  of 
the  government,  but  actual  contact  with  this  knotty  problem 
convinced  him  that  the  so-called  "peace  policy"  was,  with  all 
its  conceded  imperfections,  the  true  one.  He  held  that,  if  firmly 
adhered  to  and  improved  as  experience  should  dictate,  it  would 
ultimately  yield  the  largest  and  best  returns.  To  make  any 
policy  successful  he  knew  that  honest  and  competent  service  was 
indispensable,  and  that  he  spared  110  efforts  to  secure. 

In  the  Pension  Bureau  there  was  also  some  wholesome  inves 
tigation,  and  the  efficiency  of  its  administration  and  the  vigilance 
of  its  scrutiny  into  fraudulent  claims  upon  the  government  were 
materially  increased,  with  the  result  of  saving  to  the  Treasury 


34:8  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  annually.  In  the  Land  Office 
a  series  of  extensive  frauds  in  what  was  known  as  "  Chi]  pewa 
half-breed  scrip"  were  discovered  during  the  first  six  months  of 
Mr.  Chandler's  term.  The  matter  was  one  that  had  been  brought 
to  the  attention  of  the  Department  under  other  Secretaries,  but 
no  detection  of  rascality  had  followed.  Mr.  Chandler  ordered  a 
thorough  investigation,  which  was  pushed  vigorously  by  Mr. 
Gorham  and  Mr.  Gaylord.  The  end  was  the  breaking  up  of  a 
strong  and  corrupt  combination,  the  prompt  removal  of  all 
officers  connected  with  its  past  operations,  and  the  reporting  of 
the  facts  to  the  proper  Congressional  committees  for  further 
action.  The  Secretary  also  ordered  a  consolidation  of  the  seven 
stationery  divisions  of  the  Department  into  one  central  office, 
securing  thereby  a  lessened  cost  of  management  which  was  and 
is  worth  $20,000  annually  to  the  Treasury. 

The  result  of  this  exhibition  of  executive  vigor  need  not  be 
described  in  detail.  Under  the  impetus  of  shrewd  insight,  dis 
ciplined  business  habits,  and  firm  purpose,  the  morale  of  the 
various  bureaux  improved  rapidly.  Abuses  withered  up,  inef 
ficiency  became  industry,  and  fraud  took  flight.*  The  Interior 
Department  became  a  strongly  -  officered  and  well -administered 
branch  of  the  government.  Men  saw  that  it  had  at  last  a  head 
who  meant  that  his  subordinates  should  be  honest  and  should 
render  efficient  service,  and  who  could  push  his  intentions  into 
acts.  Mr.  Chandler,  who  had  originally  doubted  as  to  whether 

*  No  appointment  was  ever  more  thoroughly  justified  by  the  result  than  Mr.  Chand 
ler's.  It  gave  him  a  new  field  for  his  energy  and  his  masterly  executive  ability,  and  it  is 
conceded  that  he  made  the  best  Secretary  of  the  Interior  that  the  nation  has  had  in  our 
day.  He  made  no  boasts  of  what  he  intended  to  accomplish,  but  instituted  reforms  and 
uprooted  abuses.  He  hated  dishonest  men,  and  they  feared  him..— Gen.  J.  R.  Hawley,  in  the 
"  Hartford  Courant." 

On  no  occasion  was  Mr.  Chandler  known  to  use  his  official  position  for  his  own 
pecuniary  gain  — directly  or  indirectly.  His  death  has  ended  a  long  career  of  public  ser 
vice  in  executive  and  legislative  capacities,  and  throughout  his  hands  were  ever  clean  of 
unjust  or  illegitimate  gain  — nor  did  his  bitterest  political  foe  (and  no  man  evoked  stronger 
personal  criticism )  ever  charge,  or  ever  suspect  him,  with  making  personal  profit  out  of 
his  political  station  and  opportunities. — T.  F.  Bayard  in  the  Senate,  Jan.  fS',  1880. 


IN    THE    CABINET.  349 

he  could  still  command  his  old  mercantile  faculty  of  mastering 
and  managing  a  host  of  details,  convinced  both  himself  and 
others  that  this  was  still  one  of  his  powers.  His  administration 
made  evident  the  benefits  of  the  supervision  of  the  public  busi 
ness  by  a  practical  man  of  affairs,  and  no  member  of  President 
Grant's  Cabinets  made  a  record  more  enviable  for  unostentatious 
and  efficient  discharge  of  duty. 

The  anecdotes  of  Mr.  Chandler's  Cabinet  service  are  many 
and  entertaining.  He  commenced  by  arming  himself  for  the 
chronic  battle  of  all  heads  of  departments  with  the  claimants  of 
patronage.  One  of  his  first  orders  prohibited  clerks  from  recom 
mending  applicants  for  position,  and  another  provided  him  with 
a  statement  of  the  number  of  employes  in  the  Department  from 
each  Congressional  district.  A  memorandum  book,  containing 
this  information,  was  constantly  by  his  side,  and  was  used  almost 
daily.  A  Congressman  would  apply  for  the  appointment  to  a 
clerkship  of  some  constituent  whom  he  was  anxious  to  oblige  or 
assist.  The  record  would  be  produced,  and  something  like  this 
conversation  would  follow :  "  You  see  your  quota  is  full,  but 
"  that  do  n't  matter ;  pick  out  any  man  you  want  me  to  remove 
"  and  I  '11  put  your  man  in  his  place  at  once."  "  But,"  the  Con 
gressman  would  reply,  "  I  can 't  do  that.  If  I  ask  you  to  turn 
out  any  of  these  men  I  shall  get  myself  into  hot  water."  "  You 
"  do  n't  mean  to  say  that  you  're  asking  me  to  get  myself  into 
"  hot  water  for  you  ? "  the  Secretary  would  answer,  and  with  this 
weapon,  thus  used  half  banteringly  but  still  effectively,  he,  with 
perfect  good -nature,  turned  aside  the  Congressional  pressure  for 
positions. 

He  also  carefully  kept  memoranda  of  the  official  records  of 
his  subordinates,  and  charges  against  any  one  of  them  coming 
frjin  responsible  sources  were  certain  to  be  thoroughly  investi 
gated.  But  no  man  could  be  more  wrathful  at  mere  back 
biting  or  at  efforts  for  the  secret  undermining  of  reputation. 


350  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

His  repugnance  to  injustice  was  no  less  keen  than  his  sense  of 
justice.  One  afternoon  a  man  of  clerical  aspect  and  garb  called 
at  his  office,  and  said,  after  introducing  himself,  "  Mr.  Chandler, 
"  I  presume  it  is  your  intention  to  have  none  but  correct  people 
"  in  your  Department." 

"  That  is  my  intention." 

"Well,  do  you  know,  sir,  that  you  have  a  woman  in  one  of 
the  bureaux  of  your  Department  who  is  of  bad  character." 

"  No,  sir,  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  any  such  persons  in  my 
Department." 

"I    thought    you    didn't    know    it,    Mr.  Chandler,  and    so    I 
decided  to  come  and  inform  you." 

The  name  of  the  clerk  in  question  was  then  given  and  the 
charges  against  her  made  still  more  explicit.  Mr.  Chandler 
listened  quietly,  and  finally  picked  up  a  pen  and  handed  it  to 
his  caller,  saying,  "  Just  put  that  down  in  writing,  sir,  and  I 
will  dismiss  the  woman."  The  accuser  hesitated  and  said,  "  Now, 
"  I  hope,  Mr.  Chandler,  you  will  not  connect  my  name  with  this 
"  matter.  I  do  n't  want  to  be  known."  The  Secretary  thereupon 
leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  said,  "You  know  all  about  this 
"  woman  and  I  know  nothing  about  her,  except  what  you  state 
"  to  me ;  but  you  want  me  to  put  a  stain  on  her  reputation 
"  upon  charges  you  are  unwilling  to  even  substantiate  with  your 
"  name.  Never !  Leave  the  office."  Upon  the  abrupt  departure 
of  the  visitor  so  dismissed,  Mr.  Chandler  turned  to  one  of  his 
clerks  and  said,  "  He  belongs  to  that  class  of  informers  who  are 
"  always  willing  to  stand  behind  and  ruin  a  person,  but  who 
"don't  want  to  be  known.  I  don't  propose  to  be  a  party  to  any 
"  such  transaction." 

A  contractor,    whose    rascality  had    been  conclusively  exposed 
and  whose   contract  had  been  unceremoniously  annulled,   came  to 
him  one  day  to  remonstrate.     The  conversation  ran  in  this  wise. 
"  Mr.  Secretary,  I  have  been  badly  used 


IN    THE    CABINET.  351 

"  I  'm  glad  of  it,"  interrupted  Mr.  Chandler ;  "  you  're  a 
scoundrel,  and  it's  time  you  were  getting  your  deserts." 

The  man  attempted  explanation,  but  Mr.  Chandler  was  too 
impatient  to  listen,  and  finally  sent  him  away  with  orders  to 
write  a  letter  setting  forth  his  grievances,  which  should  "be 
investigated.  "  Although,"  added  he,  as  the  contractor  retired, 
"  it 's  my  opinion  that  the  worst  treatment  you  could  get  would 
"  be  too  good  for  you." 

In  the  few  cases  where  genuine  hardship  followed  his  quick 
decisions  and  their  enforcement,  he  was  ready  to  make  good  the 
injury  he  had  not  intended  to  inflict.  One  morning  a  prominent 
officer  of  the  army  entered  Mr.  Chandler's  office  with  a  small 
pamphlet  in  his  hand  and  said,  "  "What  kind  of  a  fool  is  it,  Mr. 
Secretary,  that  yon  have  at  your  door  distributing  tracts  ? " 
Upon  Mr.  Chandler's  denying  all  knowledge  of  this  variety  of 
colportage,  he  said,  "  Here  is  a  tract  a  fellow  out  there  gave  me, 
and  told  me  to  read  it,  and  said  it  might  be  good  for  my  soul." 
Mr.  Chandler  was  nettled  at  this  violation  of  discipline,  and 
made  inquiries  which  showed  that  one  of  the  clerks  was  dis 
tributing  tracts  about  the  Department  under  circumstances  that 
implied  neglect  of  his  official  duties,  and  thereupon  he  was  dis 
missed.  In  a  short  time  an  earnest  letter  came  to  the  Secretary 
from  the  wife  of  the  displaced  man  describing  the  distress  that 
had  been  brought  upon  their  home,  whereupon  Mr.  Chandler 
directed  his  reinstatement,  saying,  as  he  issued  the  order,  "  I 
"  guess  he  won't  circulate  any  more  tracts.  I  do  n't  object  to 
"  their  distribution,  but  when  a  man  is  doing  the  government 
"  business  he  should  give  that  his  attention."  For  a  clerk  dis 
charged  because  of  dishonesty,  no  amount  of  personal  solicitation, 
even  by  close  friends  of  Mr.  Chandler,  availed  anything.  At 
one  time  when  he  was  most  vehemently  and  persistently  urged 
to  restore  a  suspected  and  dismissed  subordinate,  he  finally  said 
to  the  Senator  who  was  pressing  the  matter,  "  There  is  but  one 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

"  way  by  which  you  can  have  that  man  re  -  appointed,  and  that 
"  is  to  first  have  me  turned  out." 

In  the  early  part  of  his  term  a  letter  came  to  Mr.  Chandler 
from  a  man  in  California,  who  had  a  case  pending  before  the 
Department  upon  an  appeal  from  the  Commissioner  of  the  Land 
Office.  He  wrote  that  if  the  Secretary  would  decide  that  case 
in  favor  of  the  appellant,  he  would  remit  $300  in  gold.  Mr. 
Chandler  read  it  and  said  to  his  clerk,  "  Call  the  attention  of 
"  the  Attorney  -  General  to  that,  cite  the  law  that  man  has 
"  violated,  and  ask  the  Department  of  Justice  to  prosecute  the 
"  fellow,"  and  this  course  w^as  taken.  At  about  the  same  time, 
a  dispatch  came  from  the  Pacific  coast  stating  that  a  man  was 
at  San  Francisco  who  claimed  to  be  Mr.  Chandler's  brother,  and 
was  seeking  to  borrow  money  on  that  statement.  To  this  Mr. 
Chandler's  answer  was  this  telegram :  "  I  have  no  brother. 
Arrest  the  scoundrel." 

By  the  clerks,  whose  official  record  satisfied  him,  he  was 
universally  liked.  He  was  easily  approached,  ready  to  listen, 
quick  to  perceive,  and  prompt  in  decision.  He  scarcely  ever  gave 
reasons,  but  his  rapid  judgment  was  rarely  found  to  require 
reversal  or  even  revision.  With  those  who  did  business  with 
the  Department  on  honest  principles,  and  only  asked  for 
promptitude  and  efficiency  in  its  service,  his  popularity  was  great 
and  deserved.  The  fact  that  he  was  at  its  head  was  kept  con 
stantly  fresh  in  the  minds  of  all.  Soon  after  the  commencement 
of  his  term  he  exchanged  offices  with  the  Commissioner  of 
Patents,  thus  obtaining  an  apartment  much  more  desirable  than 
the  one  previously  occupied  by  the  Secretaries.  One  of  the 
Patent  Office  attaches,  in  replying  to  the  comment  of  somebody 
who  expressed  surprise  at  the  fact  that  this  change  had  not  been 
sooner  made,  said,  "  To  tell  the  truth  we  have  generally  regarded 
"  the  Secretary  himself  as  an  interloper  in  the  Department.  Mr. 
'•  Chandler  has  started  a  new  order  of  things." 


IN    THE    CABINET. 


353 


"While  the  investigating  mania  was  at  its  height,  the  House 
Committee  on  the  Expenditures  of  the  Interior  Department 
determined  to  look  into  his  books  and  business  system.  He 


THE    SECRETARY    OF    THE    INTERIOR  S    OFFICE. 

accordingly  received  from  them  a  formal  letter  asking  what  time 
would  be  convenient  for  the  investigation.  The  Chief  Clerk 
submitted  this  communication  to  Mr.  Chandler,  who  said,  "  Tell 
"  them  to  come  down  any  day,  and  I  want  you  to  put  the  best 
23 


354  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

"  room  we  have  at  their  disposal,  and  give  them  all  the  facilities 
"  you  can  to  investigate  the  affairs  of  any  bureau  of  the  Depart- 
"  ment  that  they  want  to  look  into.  If  they  can  find  anything 
"wrong  that  I  haven't  found,  I  shall  be  very  much  obliged  to 
"them.  They  will  be  pumping  a  dry  well.  The  work  is  done." 
The  committee  came,  but  only  held  a  few  brief  sessions,  and 
finally  never  concluded  their  labors  and  never  made  a  report  in 
relation  thereto. 

Active  as  were  Mr.  Chandler's  party  sympathies,  and  little 
disposed  as  he  was  to  consult  his  political  opponents  as  to  his 
course,  or  to  admit  them  to  any  share  in  the  patronage  at  his 
disposal,  he  did  not  manage  the  Department  upon  merely  par 
tisan  principles.  He  did  not  make  removals  of  Democratic 
subordinates  except  for  cause ;  he  never  appointed  any  Republi 
can  whom  he  did  not  believe  to  be  thoroughly  upright  and 
competent.  That  to  fill  any  vacancy  he  always  sought  to  find 
the  right  kind  of  Republican  was  true.  His  civil  service  theories 
stopped  with  honesty  and  efficiency,  and  did  not  exclude  pro 
nounced  political  sympathy  with  the  appointing  power  nor  party 
activity.  Still,  he  did  not  on  any  occasion  enforce  the  payment 
of  political  assessments  by  his  subordinates,  and  their  work  for  the 
Republican  cause  was  left  voluntary  in  character.  The  nearest 
approach  to  mere  partisanship  in  his  use  of  the  appointing  power 
was  the  giving  of  places  in  the  Department  to  crippled  soldiers 
who  had  been  discharged  from  the  employment  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  by  the  Democratic  Door-keeper,  and  even  in 
that  it  was  far  more  the  indignation  of  the  patriot  than  of  the 
Republican  that  stirred  him.  At  the  close  of  Mr.  Chandler's 
Secretaryship,  the  clerks  of  the  Department  waited  upon  him 
in  a  body,  and  thanked  him  for  the  kindness  they  had  received 
at  his  hands.  While  farewells  were  being  exchanged  Mr.  Schurz, 
the  new  Secretary,  came  in  and  was  introduced  to  his  staff  of 
subordinates.  Mr.  Chandler  then  said : 


IN   THE    CABINET.  355 

Mr.  Secretary,  I  welcome  you  to  this  office.  When  I  came  here  this 
Department  was  greatly  tainted  with  corruption,  especially  in  the  Patent  Office 
and  the  Indian  Bureau.  With  the  aid  of  the  gentlemen  you  see  around  you, 
I  have  been  able  to  cleanse  it,  and  I  believe,  as  far  as  I  am  able  to  ascertain, 
that  no  abuses  exist  in  the  bureaux  I  have  named.  I  had  to  use  the  knife 
freely,  and  I  believe  this  Department  stands  to-day  the  peer  of  any  depart 
ment  of  the  government. 

Mr.  Chandler  further  commended  the  corps  of  employes  as 
honest,  faithful  men,  and  Mr.  Schurz  replied: 

I  think  I  am  expressing  the  general  opinion  of  the  country  when  I  say 
you  have  succeeded  in  placing  the  Interior  Department  in  far  better  condition 
than  it  had  been  in  for  years,  and  that  the  public  is  indebted  to  you  for  the 
very  energetic  and  successful  work  you  have  performed.  I  enter  upon  the 
arduous  duties  with  which  I  have  been  entrusted  with  an  earnest  desire  to 
discharge  them  conscientiously,  and  I  shall  be  happy  when  leaving  the  Depart 
ment  to  have  achieved  as  good  a  reputation  for  practical  efficiency  as  you 
have  won.  I  thank  you,  sir,  for  this  cordial  welcome,  and  I  will  say  to  the 
gentlemen  to  whom  you  have  introduced  me  that  they  shall  have  my  protec 
tion  ;  and  I  ask  from  them  the  same  faithful  assistance  they  have  given  you. 

The  tribute  which  Secretary  Schurz  at  the  outset  thus  paid 
to  the  practical  efficiency  of  his  predecessor  merely  expressed  the 
public  verdict  which  greeted  the  close  of  Mr.  Chandler's  term. 
Examination  did  not  compel  any  modifying  of  this  praise,  and 
after  Mr.  Chandler's  death  his  successor  in  the  Interior  Depart 
ment  —  a  man  very  exacting  in  judgment  and  one  with  whom 
his  political  differences  had  been  numerous  —  again  said :  "  In 
"  the  course  of  the  last  two  years  I  have  frequently  discovered 
"  in  the  transaction  of  public  business  traces  of  his  good  judg- 
"  ment  and  his  energetic  determination  to  do  what  was  right." 


CHAPTEE   XX0 

THE   PRESIDENTIAL   ELECTION    OF    1876 AT   HOME THE   MAESH   FARM 

NEAR    LANSING. 

HE  Michigan  delegation  to  the  Cincinnati  Convention 
of  1876  selected  Mr.  Chandler  as  the  member  of  the 
Xational  Republican  Committee  for  their  State,  and  at 
the  first  formal  meeting  of  that  body  (at  Philadelphia, 
early  in  July)  he  was  chosen  its  chairman  after  a  close  triangu 
lar  contest  between  his  friends  and  those  of  the  Hon.  A.  B. 
Cornell  and  Gen.  E.  F.  Noyes.  The  committee  at  once  opened 
rooms  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  in  New  York,  with  its  Secre 
tary,  the  Hon.  R.  C.  McCorrnick  of  Arizona,  in  immediate 
charge.  Mr.  Chandler  made  frequent  visits  to  the  headquarters 
throughout  the  campaign,  superintending  the  general  plan  of 
operations  and  meeting  with  the  executive  committee ;  as  election- 
day  approached  his  attendance  became  more  constant. 

Originally  he  felt  confident  of  Republican  victory,  not 
believing  that  in  the  centennial  year  the  American  people  would 
render  a  political  verdict  whose  result  Avould  be  the  restoration 
of  the  disloyal  classes  of  the  South  to  national  supremacy. 
But,  in  September,  evidences  of  Republican  apathy  in  the  impor 
tant  States  of  Ohio  and  Indiana  —  more  especially  in  the  former, 
which  was  the  home  of  the  Presidential  candidate  —  greatly  dis 
turbed  him,  and  made  it  plain  that  the  situation  was  critical. 
It  had  become  evident  that  organized  brutality  would  give  all 
the  close  Southern  States  to  the  Democrats  and  even  make 
doubtful  those  which  were  strongly  Republican,  and  that  the 
merchantable  and  criminal  classes  of  New  York  city  would  be 


HOME    INTERESTS.  357 

so  used  as  to  also  cast  the  electoral  vote  of  that  great  State  for 
the  Opposition.  The  gravity  of  the  prospect  then  brought  out 
Mr.  Chandler's  best  qualities  of  party  leadership.  Prompt  aid 
was  rendered  in  Ohio,  and  the  National  Committee  did  more  than 
its  full  share  (  Mr.  Chandler  making  large  personal  advances )  to 
carry  that  State  in  the  important  October  election.  After  the 
serious  loss  of  Indiana,  measures  were  at  once  instituted  to 
organize  the  party  for  decisive  work  on  the  Pacific  Slope,  to  see 
that  in  those  Southern  States  where  there  was  any  hope  all  law 
ful  measures  were  taken  to  defeat  the  plans  of  "  the  rifle  clubs " 
and  "  the  white  leagues,"  and  to  carry  New  York  if  that  was 
possible.  Nothing  was  spared  that  would  arouse  the  spirit  of 
the  party,  and  Mr.  Chandler  saw  that  the  means  wrere  forth 
coming  for  every  effort  that  promised  to  make  success  more 
certain. 

The  elections  showed  that  the  calculations  of  the  managers 
of  the  Republican  campaign  were  accurate,  and  were  also  ade 
quate  to  "snatching  victory  from  the  jaws  of  defeat."  The 
effort  to  save  New  York  failed,  and  it  and  the  neighboring 
States  rewarded  with  their  electoral  votes  the  unscrupulous  and 
subtle  skill  of  Governor  Tilden's  personal  canvass.  But  the 
Republican  victories  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  reso 
lute  resistance  offered  in  South  Carolina,  Louisiana  and  Florida, 
to  the  seizure  of  those  States  by  political  crimes  ranging  from 
shameless  fraud  to  wholesale  massacre,  still  left  success  with 
the  Republicans  after  a  contest  without  an  American  parallel 
in  obstinacy,  bitterness  and  excitement.  Mr.  Chandler  showed 
throughout  the  prolonged  electoral  dispute  u  the  courage  which 
mounteth  with  the  occasion,"  and  his  firmness,  vigor  and  activity 
were  among  the  important  factors  in  the  work  of  saving  the 
fruits  of  the  so  narrowly -won  victory.  As  soon  as  the  smoke 
lifted  from  the  battle  -  field  his  dispatch  appeared,  u  Hayes  has 
185  votes  and  is  elected,"  and  he  maintained  that  position  to 


358  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

the  end  without  a  shade  of  faltering.  Knowing  that  the  Republi- 
cans  Avere  rightfully  entitled  to  the  electoral  votes  of,  at  least, 
Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida,  Louisiana  and  South  Carolina,  he 
determined  that  in  the  three  States  where  the  existence  of 
Republican  officials  afforded  some  ground  for  hope  nothing 
should  be  left  undone  to  deprive  fraud  and  violence  of  their 
prey,  and  he  pushed  every  measure  which  seemed  needed  to 
uphold  the  Republicans  of  Florida,  Louisiana  and  South  Carolina 
in  their  lawful  rights.  In  some  of  the  important  closing  phases 
of  this  exciting  contest  his  counsels  were  not  followed.  The 
Electoral  Commission  act  was  not  a  measure  that  he  approved. 
Firmly  believing  in  the  constitutional  power  of  the  President  of 
the  Senate  to  count  the  electoral  votes  and  announce  the  result, 
he  held  the  position  that  that  officer  should  discharge  that  duty, 
and  that  the  candidate  thus  constitutionally  declared  elected 
should  be  duly  inaugurated  at  all  hazards ;  and  revolutionary 
threats  were  without  eifect  upon  his  firm  purpose.  The  negotia 
tions  between  the  opposing  party  leaders  which  attended  the 
closing  hours  of  the  struggle,  and  which  culminated  in  the 
abandonment  by  the  new  administration  of  the  Republican  State 
governments  of  the  South,  received  no  sanction  from  him.  He 
regarded  such  a  policy  as  essentially  perfidious,  and  as  clouding 
the  title  of  Mr.  Hayes  to  his  high  office,  a  title  which  Mr. 
Chandler  believed  to  be  as  clear  as  that  possessed  by  any  Presi 
dent  chosen  since  the  formation  of  the  constitution.  Much  else 
that  attended  the  surrender  of  the  South  to  the  bitter  enemies 
of  the  republic  he  deprecated  as  exceedingly  harmful  to  the 
party  of  his  faith,  as  unwise  in  tendency,  and  as  unjust  in  prin 
ciple.  He  was  not  demonstrative  in  his  criticisms  upon  the  new 
"  policy,"  and  his  retirement  to  private  life  enabled  him  to 
maintain  a  general  silence  upon  the  subject.  But  his  disapproval 
of  a  "  conciliation,"  which  he  regarded  as  cowardly  in  its  treat 
ment  of  friends  and  as  foolish  in  its  manifestation  of  undeserved 


HOME    INTERESTS.  359 

confidence    in    enemies,    was   profound.*     Within    two    years   the 
vindication  of  his  opinions  was  complete. 

The  indebtedness  of  the  Republicans  to  Mr.  Chandler's  atti 
tude  and  efforts  in  the  presidential  election  of  1876  and  the 
subsequent  electoral  dispute  can  scarcely  be  exaggerated.  With 
out  his  firmness,  the  spirit  with  which  he  held  his  party  up  to 
the  thorough  assertion  of  its  rights,  the  liberality  with  which  he 
advanced  the  large  sums  required  for  legitimate  expenditures, 
and  the  influence  of  his  indomitable  resolution,  the  final  victory 
would  have  been  at  least  vastly  more  difficult  of  attainment,  if 
not  actually  impossible.  In  him  the  enemy  never  found  the 
slightest  traces  of  failing  will  or  flagging  strength.  While  the 
excitement  was  at  its  height,  a  Democratic  periodical  published 
a  cartoon,  in  which  Mr.  Chandler  was  caricatured  as  standing 
colossus -like  over  a  yawning  chasm,  holding  up  an  elephant, 
labeled  "The  Republican  Vote,"  by  a  double-handed  grasp  upon 
its  tail.  The  humor  of  the  rough  sketch  greatly  delighted  its 
subject,  and  he  kept  it  with  him  for  the  entertainment  of  his 
friends.  He  first  saw  it  after  one  of  the  Cabinet  sessions,  when 
it  was  produced  by  President  Grant  and  passed  through  the 
hands  of  the  other  Secretaries,  until  it  reached  Mr.  Chandler, 
who,  after  looking  it  over,  said,  gravely  pointing  out  his  position 
in  the  cartoon :  "  Mr.  President,  one  of  three  things  is  certain : 
"  either  the  rocks  upon  which  my  feet  are  resting  will  crumble,  or 
"  the  elephant's  tail  will  break,  or  I  shall  land  the  animal."  Into 


*In  the  fall  of  1877  Mr.  Chandler  delivered  the  annual  address  before  the  Branch 
County  Agricultural  Society,  and  while  in  Coldwater  was  the  guest  of  the  Hon.  Henry  C. 
Lewis  of  that  city,  who  invited  a  few  friends  to  meet  him  socially.  In  the  course  of  the 
conversation  Mr.  Chandler  said  that  he  was  going  to  his  Lansing  farm  to  spend  a  few  days. 
His  reticence  in  regard  to  the  Hayes  administration  was  then  a  matter  of  remark,  and  the 
Hon.  C.  D.  Randall  said  to  him  :  "Well,  Mr.  Chandler,  when  you  get  out  in  the  center  of 
"  your  great  farm  and  alone,  you  will  have  a  fine  opportunity  to  express  your  opinion 
"  about  the  Hayes  'policy.'"  Mr.  Chandler's  reply  was:  "No,  sir;  that  Lansing  farm 
"  will  never  answer  my  purpose.  To  do  that  I  shall  have  to  be  on  the  top  of  a  high  hill 
"behind  the  meeting-house  and  with  the  wind  blowing  the  other  way  !  "  The  audience 
responded  with  a  hearty  laugh. 


360  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

the  methods  of  his  work  he  never  feared  examination.  'No 
cipher  dispatch  disclosures  have  cast  infamy  upon  his  name,  and 
eager  investigation  by  his  political  enemies  still  left  his  personal 
honor  untainted. 

After  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Chandler's  term  of  Cabinet  ser 
vice,  he  remained  in  Washington  for  several  weeks,  and  then 
accompanied  General  Grant  to  Philadelphia,  and  was  one  of  the 
party  who  escorted  the  Ex -President  down  the  Delaware  when, 
on  May  17,  1877,  he  commenced  his  tour  around  the  world. 
The  next  two  years  were  spent  by  Mr.  Chandler  in  Michigan. 
His  only  prolonged  absence  from  his  Detroit  home  during  this 
period  was  caused  by  a  two  months'  trip  to  the  California  coast 
in  June  and  July  of  1877.  A  special  car  was  placed  at  his  ser 
vice  by  the  Pacific  Railroads  ( he  was  one  of  the  earliest  and 
most  energetic  supporters  of  the  trans  -  continental  railway  pro 
ject),  and  he  was  accompanied  by  Charles  T.  Gorham  of  Mar 
shall,  H.  C.  Lewis  of  Coldwater,  and  S.  S.  Cobb  of  Kalamazoo. 
Denver,  Salt  Lake  City,  Los  Angeles,  San  Francisco,  and  the 
Yo  Semite  Valley  were  visited  during  the  journey,  and  every 
where  Mr.  Chandler  was  welcomed  with  noteworthy  public 
and  private  entertainments ;  his  attractive  social  qualities  shone 
throughout  the  jaunt.  Not  a  great  traveler,  yet  he  saw  dur 
ing  his  life  much  of  the  world.  In  1875,  in  company  with  Sen 
ators  Cameron,  Anthony  and  others,  he  visited  the  leading 
cities  of  the  South.  During  one  of  the  Congressional  recesses 
of  his  second  term,  he  passed  some  months  in  Europe,  and 
while  still  in  active  business  he  spent  a  winter  in  the  West 
Indies.  His  knowledge  of  the  resources  and  points  of  interest 
of  the  North  and  Northwest  was  extensive  and  thorough. 

The  marsh  farm,  which  Mr.  Chandler  bought  near  the  city 
of  Lansing,  and  the  experiments  in  extensive  and  systematic 
drainage  which  he  made  thereon,  always  received  a  generous 
share  of  his  attention  when  he  was  in  Michigan.  This  enter- 


HOME    INTERESTS. 


361 


prise  was  one  in  which  he  unhesitatingly  made  large  investments 
with  the  view  of  settling  definitely  questions  of  manifest  public 
importance.  In  1857  the  State  of  Michigan  gave  to  its  Agricul 
tural  College  the  public  lands  in  the  four  townships  of  Bath, 
De  "Witt,  Meridian,  and  Lansing,  which  were  designated  on  the 
surveyor's  maps  as  "swamp  lands;"  in  the  main  the  sections 
covered  by  the  grant  were  marshy,  although  their  rectilinear 


PLAT    OF    THE    MARSH    FARM.* 

boundaries  included  some  solid  ground.  Mr.  Chandler  purchased 
from  the  college  and  other  owners  a  farm  of  3,160  acres,  located 
four  miles  (by  railroad)  from  Lansing,  in  the  towns  of  Bath 
and  De  Witt  in  Clinton  county;  it  included  about  1,900  acres 

*The  heavy  black  lines  in  this  map  are  the  boundaries  of  the  farm  ;  the  waving  lines 
indicate  the  border  of  the  uplands  surrounding  the  marsh.  The  drainage  is  from  Mud 
Lake  via  'the  big  ditch''  to  the  Looking-glass  river.  The  lateral  ditching  (of  which 
there  are  over  fifty  miles)  is  shown  on  the  plat  by  the  fine  lines. 


362  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

of  marsh  meadow,  500  acres  of  tamarack  swamp,  and  800  acres 
of  oak -opening  uplands.  The  marsh  was  traversed  by  a  slender 
water -course,  deviously  connecting  some  small  lakes  with  a  stream 
known  as  the  Looking-glass  river.  The  upland  portion  of  the 
farm  was  thoroughly  fertile,  but  its  development  and  cultivation 
did  not  specially  interest  Mr.  Chandler,  except  as  furnishing 
the  needed  base  for  his  experiments  upon  the  marsh.  He  said: 
"  Michigan  contains  thousands  of  acres  of  precisely  this  kind  of 
"  land.  The  drainage  of  this  particular  marsh  is  difficult,  as  much 
"  so  as  is  the  case  with  any  land  in  this  peninsula  which  is  not 
"  a  hopeless  swamp.  If  this  tract  can  be  reclaimed,  others  can 
"  be,  and  I  propose  to  give  the  experiment  of  reclamation  a 
"  thorough  trial.  I  have  the  money,  and  I  believe  I  have  the 
"  pluck.  If  I  succeed,  it  will  be  a  good  thing  for  the  State,  for 
"  it  will  show  how  to  add  millions  of  dollars  worth  of  land 
"  to  its  farms.  If  I  fail,  it  will  also  be  a  good  thing,  for  it  will 
"  settle  an  open  question,  and  no  man  need  repeat  my  attempt." 
He  pushed  this  experiment  vigorously  from  the  time  of  its 
commencement  until  his  death,  and  gave  to  it  his  frequent  per 
sonal  supervision.  His  investments  in  the  marsh  farm  soon 
came  to  be  counted  by  many  tens  of  thousands  of  dollars. 
Originally,  practical  farmers  were  inclined  to  regard  his  opera 
tions  as  sheer  folly,  but  as  they  saw  the  purpose,  methods  and 
thoroughness  of  his  work,  a  just  appreciation  of  its  aim  fol 
lowed.  Mr.  Chandler  never  disguised  the  character  of  this  enter 
prise.  Repeatedly  he  said  to  visitors  at  the  farm  and  to  friends, 
"  I  have  a  theory  —  that  is  a  remarkably  expensive  thing  to 
"have  —  and  I  propose  to  test  it  here;  it  will  make  me  poorer, 
"  but  it  may  make  others  richer  some  time."  The  public  value 
of  his  experiment  he  believed  to  be  great,  and  that  fact  he  was 
quick  to  make  prominent  whenever  it  seemed  necessary. 

The  general  plan  of  drainage  operations  consisted  in  connect 
ing  by  a  large  ditch  Park  lake  (which  has  an  area  of  235  acres) 


HOME    INTERESTS. 


363 


with  the  Looking-glass  river.  This  main  ditch  was  constructed 
by  straightening  the  bed  of  Prairie  creek,  and  possessed  descent 
enough  to  ensure  a  slow  current  in  wet  seasons.  It  is  about 
four  miles  in  length,  and  averages  fourteen  feet  in  width  by 
four  in  depth.  At  intervals  of  forty  rods  are  constructed 
lateral  ditches,  as  a  rule  five  feet  in  width  at  the  top  by  three 
in  depth.  This  part  of  the  work  had  not  been  completed  at 
the  time  of  Mr.  Chandler's  death,  but  still  the  lateral  ditching 


^-— ^ 

- 


THE  "BIG-  DITCH"  (WINTER  SCENE). 

had  reached  about  fifty  miles  in  aggregate  length,  and  had  well 
drained  about  1,000  acres  in  the  western  end  of  the  marsh  near 
the  outlet  into  the  Looking-glass.  In  that  portion  of  the  farm 
the  first  results  of  the  drainage  —  the  rotting  down  of  the  peaty 
surface  of  the  marsh  into  a  vegetable  mold  —  have  already 
manifested  themselves  satisfactorily.  The  extent  to  which  this 
decomposition  will  continue  is  not  completely  tested,  nor  does 
it  yet  appear  what  will  be  the  full  measure  of  the  arability  of 


364  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

soil,  which  will  be  created  by  this  process,  supplemented  by  the 
tile  draining  which  will  follow  the  subsidence  of  the  marsh  to  a 
permanent  level.  This  peaty  surface  varies  from  two  and  a  half 
feet  to  a  rod  in  depth  and  promises  to  become  an  enormously 
productive  soil.  The  experiments  thus  far  tried  upon  it  have 
resulted  hopefully.  Much  of  the  native  grass  furnished  excellent 
hay,  and  stock  fatted  upon  it  thoroughly  with  no  more  than  the 
usual  allowance  of  grain.  The  tame  grass  sown  was  chiefly  Fowl 
Meadow  and  Timothy.  The  former  Mr.  Chandler  had  seen  grow 
ing  in  Holland  on  reclaimed  land,  and  he  determined  to  give  it 
a  trial ;  he  was  only  able  to  find  the  seed  in  the  Boston  market, 
and  there  paid  for  it  four  dollars  per  bushel  of  eleven  pounds. 
It  is  a  species  of  Red  Top,  and  soon  yielded  from  one  and  a 
half  to  two  tons  of  excellent  hay  per  acre.  For  four  seasons 
this  seeding -down  with  tame  grasses  was  tried  with  satisfactory 
results,  and  then  other  experiments  followed.  In  the  fall  of 
1878,  twelve  acres  of  marsh,  then  well  seeded -down  with  grass, 
were  thoroughly  plowed  by  Superintendent  Hughes,  who,  in  the 
following  season,  raised  thereon  corn,  potatoes,  rutabagas  and 
oats.  The  results  conclusively  showed  that  the  marsh  possessed 
general  productiveness,  although  the  experiment  itself  was  marred 
by  the  unseasonable  frosts  of  1879.  The  corn  looked  well  at 
the  outset,  but  wTas  severely  injured  in  the  end.  The  potato 
crop  was  a  good  one,  and  the  yield  of  oats  was  also  large.  In 
the  fall  of  1879  another  tract  of  twelve  acres  was  plowed,  and 
the  same  experiment  was  put  in  process  of  repetition.  Super 
intendent  Hughes  is  of  the  opinion  that  within  another  year, 
the  reclaimed  marsh  will  produce  100  bushels  of  corn  to  the 
acre.  A  short  time  before  his  death,  Mr.  Chandler  said  that, 
in  view  of  the  success  which  had  attended  the  experiments 
already  tried,  he  now  felt  confident  that  in  time  his  farm  would 
be  pointed  out  as  an  ague -bed  transformed  into  one  of  the  most 
valuable  pieces  of  property  in  Central  Michigan,  and  would 


HOME    INTERESTS. 


365 


demonstrate  the  reclaimability  of  large  tracts  of  swamp  land  in 
that  State.  About  500  acres  of  the  marsh  are  seeded  with  Fowl 
Meadow  grass ;  about  300  acres  of  this  is  mowed,  and  the  remain 
der  is  used  for  pasturage.  Over  400  tons  of  excellent  hay  were 
cut  there  in  the  season  of  1879. 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT'S  HOUSE  AT  THE  MARSH  FARM. 


Outside  of  the  interest  attaching  to  it  by  reason  of  the 
drainage  experiments,  the  Chandler  farm  would  deserve  notice 
as  one  of  the  most  thoroughly  equipped  and  stocked  of  the  new 
farms  of  Michigan.  It  is  traversed  by  a  state  road,  and  by 
the  Jackson,  Lansing  and  Saginaw  Kailroad  (which  has  estab 
lished  a  signal  station  near  the  farm-house).  Its  buildings  are 


366  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

located  upon  the  highest  ground.  They  are  substantially  con 
structed,  and  surrounded  with  all  the  evidences  of  thrift.  The 
main  house  of  the  farm,  which  is  occupied  by  the  superintendent 
and  his  family,  is  a  commodious  frame  structure,  two  stories  in 
height,  and  conveniently  partitioned  oil  into  spacious  and  airy 
apartments.  Near  it  is  the  house -barn  (32  by  54  feet  in  dimen 
sions)  with  sheep -sheds  adjoining.  About  a  half-mile  to  the 
east  are  two  tenant  houses,  occupied  by  families  employed  on  the 
farm.  On  the  east  side  of  the  state  road,  at  a  distance  of  half 
a  mile,  is  a  large  barn,  erected  in  1879 ;  its  main  portion  is  41 
by  66  feet  in  dimensions,  with  a  wing  38  by  90  feet ;  its  height 
is  44  feet  to  the  ridge ;  attached  are  sheds  250  feet  in  length 
and  "L"  shaped.  This  barn  is  largely  used  for  storage  purposes, 
and  will  receive  250  tons  of  hay.  The  basement  of  its  wing  is 
divided  into  60  cattle  stalls,  30  on  each  side,  with  a  broad  pas 
sage  through  the  center.  The  stalls  are  ingeniously  arranged  in 
the  most  improved  style,  and  with  a  special  regard  for  cleanli 
ness.  In  the  basement  of  the  main  barn  is  a  large  root  cellar 
(capable  of  holding  2,000  bushels  of  potatoes,  turnips,  etc.), 
stabling  accommodations  for  eight  horses,  two  large  box  -  stalls 
for  stallions,  a  feed -room  20  by  25  feet  in  size, -numerous  calf- 
pens,  and  many  other  conveniences.  Located  above  are  two 
granaries,  each  12  by  26  feet  in  dimensions.  Attached  to  the 
barn,  but  in  a  separate  building,  is  a  12  -  horse  -  power  engine, 
used  for  cutting  feed,  and  for  other  farm  purposes.  A  large 
automatic  windmill  and  pump  supply  water  in  abundance. 

The  farm  is  well  stocked ;  on  it  are  seventeen  horses,  includ 
ing  "  Mark  Antony,"  an  imported  Normandy  stallion,  which  is 
a  fine  specimen  of  the  Percheron  breed.  There  are  also  120 
head  of  handsome  graded  cattle  on  the  farm,  300  sheep  graded 
from  Shropshire  Down  bucks,  and  23  pure -bred  Essex  swine. 
In  wagons  and  implements  of  every  kind  the  equipment  is  com 
plete,  and  all  are  of  the  best  manufacture  and  most  improved 


HOME    INTERESTS. 


367 


quality.  The  force  of  laborers  on  the  farm  as  a  rule  includes 
five  men  in  summer  and  three  in  winter,  large  gangs  being 
employed  during  the  two  months  of  the  haying  season,  and  also 
when,  there  is  any  extensive  fencing  or  ditching  enterprise  to  be 
pushed. 

Mr.    Chandler's    experiments    were    closely    watched    by    the 
farmers  of   Michigan.     Visits    were   frequent   from   them   singly, 


THE    MAIN    BARN    OF    THE    MARSH    FARM. 

in  small  parties,  and  in  club  or  grange  excursions  to  the  marsh, 
and  they  always  met  a  hospitable  reception.  Letters  of  inquiry 
also  came  from  many  parts  of  the  State,  giving  evidence  of  the 
widespread  character  of  the  interest  felt.  Mr.  Chandler  himself 
when  in  Michigan  visited  the  farm  at  least  once  a  month, 
inspecting  the  work  thoroughly,  discussing  plans  with  the  super- 


368  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

intendent,  making  suggestions,  and  giving  orders.  His  experience 
as  a  farmer  in  his  boyhood  furnished  ideas  which  were  yet  use 
ful  and  a  judgment  which  was  well-informed;  still  he  was  ready 
to  welcome  all  innovations  that  promised  good  results,  and  he 
closed  many  discussions  with  his  superintendents  by  remarking, 
"  If  you  come  at  me  with  facts,  that  is  enough ;  I  never  argue 
against  them."  At  the  farm  he  also  found  the  most  congenial 
relaxation.  He  would  come  there  jaded  out  with  the  excitement 
and  labor  of  political  contest  and  public  life ;  in  stout  clothing 
and  heavy  boots  he  would  scour  the  meadows,  examine  ditching, 
look  up  the  stock,  oversee  labor,  and  work  himself  if  there  wras 
an  inviting  opportunity.  A  day  or  two  of  this  life  would  bring 
rest,  hearty  appetite,  and  sound  sleep,  would  relieve  his  nerves 
from  tension,  arid  restore  his  vital  powers  to  their  natural 
activity.  He  always  rated  his  visits  to  the  marsh  farm  as  a  cer 
tain  and  delightful  tonic. 

In  private  life  Mr.  Chandler  kept  up  the  habits  which 
marked  his  public  career.  His  voluminous  correspondence  was 
never  neglected.  Napoleon's  method  of  leaving  letters  unopened 
for  three  weeks,  because  within  that  time  most  of  them  would 
need  no  replies,  he  reversed.  As  a  rule,  every  communication 
addressed  to  Mr.  Chandler  was  promptly  answered;  to  even 
mere  notes  of  compliment  brief  responses  were  sent.  Of  course 
this  practice  made  a  confidential  secretary  indispensable,  and  that 
position  was  held  for  some  years  by  a  Mr.  Miller;  after  his 
death  (in  1870)  it  was  discreetly  and  faithfully  tilled  by  George 
"W.  Partridge.  Matters  entrusted  to  Mr.  Chandler's  care  by  constit 
uents  always  received  early  attention ;  the  same  statement  is  true 
of  applications  from  the  humblest  stranger  who  preferred  a  claim 
upon  his  attention,  and  it  includes  political  enemies  as  well  as 
friends.  Mr.  Chandler  regarded  meeting  these  demands  as  part 
of  his  public  duties;  no  other  prominent  man  of  his  day  gave 
to  such  matters  a  tithe  of  the  time  and  energy  devoted  to  them 


HOME    INTERESTS. 


369 


by  him,  and  this  was  one  source  of  his  hold  upon  the  popular 
affection.  Of  course  much  labor  was  involved,  but  this  was 
offset  by  the  fact  that  in  all  his  duties  he  was  regular,  punctual 


MR.    CHANDLERS    RESIDENCE    IN     WASHINGTON. 


and  systematic ;  his  mercantile  training  helped  him  greatly  in 
this  respect,  and  it  was  said  of  him  truly,  "He  lias  never  been 
excelled  as  a  'business  Senator'  at  Washington."  While  not  a 
student,  he  was  a  man  who  prepared  for  every  important  action. 
24 


3  TO  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER, 

In  his  speeches  he  aimed  at  nervous  strength  and  effectiveness. 
For  oratorical  finish  he  cared  nothing,  but  simple  language,  terse 
sentences,  some  plain  word  whose  meaning  was  an  argument  in 
itself  — these  he  sought  for  unceasingly.  He  apologized  for  the 
length  of  one  of  his  brief  speeches  because  he  had  not  had  time 
to  make  it  shorter.  Not  rarely  he  would  put  into  a  sentence  of 
ten  Saxon  words  the  power  of  a  philippic,  and  this  rough 
missile  would  crush  where  mere  rhetoric  would  have. only  irri 
tated.  Mr.  Chandler  never  failed  as  a  speaker  to  command  the 
popular  attention,  and  his  force  and  the  simplicity  of  his  diction 
were  greatly  r.'ded  by  the  sincerity  which  illuminated  them. 
The  vigor  and  truth  of  conviction,  which  made  him  so  ardent  a 
champion  of  the  party  of  his  political  faith,  marked  his  speeches, 
and  made  his  appeals  potent  with  his  hearers.  "His  words 
were  simple  and  his  soul  sincere."  In  fact,  his  sincerity  and 
honesty  were  the  salient  qualities  of  the  man.  His  was  not  a 
faultless  character;  but  it  was  above  baseness,  and  it  was  free 
from  affectation,  from  cant,  and  from  hypocrisy.  The  record  of 
his  public  life  recalls  Emerson's  estimate  of  Bonaparte :  "  This 
"  man  showed  us  how  much  may  be  accomplished  by  the  mere 
"  force  of  such  virtues  as  all  men  possess  in  less  degree  — 
"  namely,  by  punctuality,  by  personal  attention,  by  courage,  and 
"  by  thoroughness."  But  more  honorable  to  his  memory  is  the 
fact  that  concerning  the  man  himself  can  be  justly  quoted 
Carlyle's  eloquent  tribute  to  Burns :  "  He  is  an  honest  man. 
"  ,  .  .  In  his  successes  and  his  failures,  in  his  greatness  and 
"  his  littleness,  he  is  ever  clear,  simple  and  true,  and  glitters 
u  with  no  lustre  but  his  own.  "We  reckon  this  to  be  a  great 
"virtue  —  to  be,  in  fact,  the  root  of  most  other  virtues." 

Mr.  Chandler's  social  nature  was  a  hearty  one.  His  manners 
were  easy,  he  was  affable  with  all,  and  he  was  without  the 
slightest  tinge  of  aristocratic  tastes  or  prejudice.  No  false  dignity 
surrounded  him;  with  his  friends  his  laugh  was  ready;  he  liked 


372  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

a  game  of  whist,  enjoyed  a  good  story,  found  pleasure  in  social 
gatherings,  was  entertaining  in  conversation,  and  easily  gave 
way  to  the  natural  jollity  of  his  spirits.  Exact  and  stern  as  he 
often  was,  his  intimates  found  him  a  most  agreeable  companion. 
Few  men  have  ever  bound  friends  to  themselves  more  firmly. 

He  surrounded  his  homes  with  the  comforts  that  wealth 
could  supply,  and  yet  was  not  ostentatious.  His  Washington 
residence  he  purchased  for  about  $40,000  in  1867  from  Senor 
Bareda,  the  Peruvian  Minister.  It  is  located  on  II  between 
Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  streets,  and  is  a  handsome  house  with 
spacious  parlors  and  dining  room  upon  the  first  floor;  commodi 
ous  apartments  occupy  the  upper  stories,  which  are  connected  by 
rich  staircases  of  black  walnut.  Mr.  Chandler's  office  was  located 
in  the  basement,  and  has  been  the  scene  of  many  important  con 
sultations  between  famous  men  on  questions  of  party  policy  and 
public  concern.  His  Detroit  home  was  the  mansion  on  the 
Northwest  corner  of  Fort  and  Second  streets,  which  he  built  in 
1855  -'56.  It  is  situated  in  spacious  grounds,  and  is  of  the  plain 
Roman  style  of  architecture,  which  aims  at  the  simple  in  out 
line  and  massive  in  effect.  A  semi  -  circular  drive  and  path 
lead  to  it  through  the  gate -ways  of  a  heavy  and  handsome 
fence  and  into  a  large  porte  cochere.  Thence  wide  stone  steps 
rise  through  solid  mahogany  doors  to  a  broad  hall,  whose  floor 
of  inlaid  woods  is  partly  hidden  by  rich  rugs.  On  the  right 
is  the  drawing  room,  a  spacious  apartment  furnished  in  blue  and 
gold,  and  abounding  in  tasteful  ornaments  and  handsome  paint 
ings.  In  it  stands  Randolph  Rogers's  marble  bust  of  Mr. 
Chandler,  executed  about  1870.  Opposite  and  connected  by 
folding  doors  are  the  library  and  dining  room.  The  former's 
shelves  are  well  filled  with  the  best  works  of  standard  authors, 
including  many  ancient  chronicles  seldom  found  in  private  book 
collections.  Back  of  the  dining  room  and  across  a  transverse 
hallway  is  the  apartment  that  was  Mr.  Chandler's  private  office ; 


HOME    INTERESTS.  373 

its  walls  are  literally  covered   with  shelving  containing   Congres 
sional    annals    and    reports    and    many    public    documents.      The 
appointments  of  the  numerous  other  rooms  are  tasteful  and  com 
plete,  and  all  the  surroundings  of  the  house  are  in  keeping  with 
its  quiet   elegance.      In    1858    Mr.  Chandler   met    there   with    an 
accident  of  nearly  fatal  results.     He  followed  his   little  daughter 
upon,  a  search  for   some   escaping   gas,  and  was  caught  with   her 
in  a  room   in   which  a  large  mass  of  that  inflammable  vapor  was 
exploded  by  a  lighted  candle.     To  add  to  the  danger  of   the  sit 
uation  the   door  was  closed  upon  them  by  a  frightened  servant. 
Mr.  Chandler  seized    his   child    and    sheltered    her    from    serious 
danger,  and   groped   his  way  out  blinded   and    scorched.     It   was 
then  found  that  his  hands  and  face   were  badly  burned,  and   the 
loss  of  his  eyesight  was    threatened.     Careful    treatment   and    his 
vigorous    constitution   ultimately  brought   about    a    full    recovery, 
and  the  only  traces  left  of  the   casualty  wrere    some    slight    affec 
tions  of  the  facial  muscles  and  an  unusual  pallor  of  countenance. 
Mr.    Chandler's    domestic    life    was    a    thoroughly  happy  one. 
He    married    Letitia    Grace    Douglass    of    New     York,  a    noble 
Christian  woman,  whose  social  accomplishments    blended    dignity 
with   grace,   and    who    met    to    the   full   her   large    share    of   the 
exacting    duties    attendant    upon    public    life    and    high    station. 
Their  only  child  was  a  daughter,  Mary  Douglass   Chandler,  who 
was  married,  while  her  father  was  a  Senator,  to  the  Hon.  Eugene 
Hale   of  Ellsworth,   Maine.      She  inherited  many  of   her  father's 
traits,  and  his  affection  for  her  was  rooted  in  the  inner  fibres  of 
his  strong  nature.     Her  children,  his  three  little  grandsons,  often 
knew  him  as  a  rollicking  playfellow,  and  he  counseled  with  her 
freely  and  often,  and  she  shared  in  his  confidence  as  well  as  his 
love.     Throughout  his  life  he  expressed    his    appreciation    of   the 
devoted  attachment  of   his    wife  and  child  by  many  acknowledg 
ments  that  do  not  belong  to  a  public  chronicle ;  his  will  left  Ins 
great  estate  to  them  as  his  sole  heirs,  "  share  and  share  alike." 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

THE    MICHIGAN"    ELECTION    OF    1878 MR.    CHANDLER5  S    RETURN    TO    THE 

SENATE UTHE    JEFF.    DAVIS    SPEECH." 

'HE  township  elections  in  Michigan  in  April,  1878, 
revealed  an  astonishing  growth  in  the  number  of  the 
advocates  of  an  irredeemable  paper  currency.  "  Hard 
times,"  Democratic  disgust  over  the  result  of  the  elect 
oral  dispute,  and  Republican  disappointment  at  "the  Southern 
policy"  of  the  new  administration  greatly  relaxed  existing  party 
ties,  and  made  the  way  ready  for  the  expounders  of  the  seduc 
tive  theory  that  prosperity  depends  upon  a  great  volume  of  the 
currency,  and  that  large  issues  of  paper  bearing  the  government 
stamp  must  greatly  add  to  individual  wealth.  Throughout  the 
West  and  South,  Republican  and  Democratic  leaders  had  fostered 
these  fallacious  ideas,  and  thus  prepared  the  field  of  public  sen 
timent  for  this  "  Greenback "  sowing.  In  Michigan  the  result 
was  that  the  National  party  (which  in  1876  gave  only  9,060 
votes  to  Peter  Cooper  for  President)  in  April,  1878,  cast  over 
70,000  votes  for  its  township  candidates,  elected  a  large  number 
of  supervisors  in  the  most  populous  counties  of  the  State,  and 
showed  greater  strength  than  either  of  the  old  parties  in  four 
Congressional  districts.  This  was  the  gravest  situation  the  Repub 
licans  of  Michigan  had  ever  been  called  upon  to  face.  A  con 
ference  of  their  representative  men  was  at  once  held,  at  the  call 
of  the  State  Central  Committee,  and  the  situation  was  thoroughly 
discussed.  Among  those  participating  was  Gov.  Charles  M. 
Croswell,  who  said  that  he  believed  that  the  party  should  boldly 
declare  for  a  sound  currency,  and  resist  with  all  its  power  the 


"THE    JEFF.   DAVIS    SPEECH."  375 

further  spread  of  financial  heresy ;  for  himself,  he  preferred 
defeat  on  that  platform  to  a  victory  won  by  any  surrender  to 
false  theories.  The  endorsement  of  his  views  was  substantially 
unanimous,  and  an  aggressive  campaign  was  determined  upon. 
The  State  Convention  was  promptly  called,  and  met  in  Detroit  on 
June  13.  It  was  the  ablest  political  gathering  ever  held  in  Mich 
igan,  and  its  delegates  included  the  foremost  men  of  the  party 
from  every  county.  Mr.  Chandler  presided ;  Governor  Croswell 
was  renominated  at  the  head  of  a  strong  State  ticket ;  a  plat 
form,  admirable  for  its  soundness  of  doctrine  and  clearness  of 
statement*  (its  author  was  Frederick  Morley,  formerly  editor  of 
the  Detroit  Post ),  was  adopted ;  and  Mr.  Chandler  was,  amid  the 
prolonged  cheering  of  the  convention,  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  State  Committee.  He  had  at  that  time  about  completed  his 
plans  for  a  European  journey,  and  it  was  suggested  to  him  by 
friends  that  his  chairmanship  of  the  National  Committee  afforded 
a  valid  excuse  for  declining  this  new  appointment,  which  would 
make  him  responsible  for  the  result  of  a  doubtful  fight,  with  the 
certainty  that  defeat  would  greatly  impair  his  political  prestige. 
To  this  advice  Mr.  Chandler  simply  replied,  "  If  Michigan  Kepub- 
licanism  goes  down,  I  will  go  with  it."  He  promptly  canceled 
all  other  engagements,  appointed  his  confidential  secretary,  G.  W. 
Partridge,  secretary  of  the  committee  (with  the  consent  of  its 
members ),  and  threw  his  energy  and  vigor  into  that  State  cam 
paign.  The  contest  that  followed  under  his  leadership  preserved 
the  spirit  of  the  convention  and  upheld  the  doctrines  of  the 
platform.  The  financial  question  was  discussed  in  every  phase 
"upon  the  stump"  and  by  the  press.  Mr.  Chandler  himself 

*  The  Michigan  Republicans  have  done  well.  Their  platform  has  about  it  the  clear 
ring  of  honest  conviction,  undulled  by  any  half-hearted  and  halting  compromise.  So  lucid 
and  courageous  an  enunciation  of  the  financial  creed  of  the  Republican  party  has  cer 
tainly  not  been  made  this  year,  nor  has  the  irreconcilable  hostility  of  the  party  to  all 
forms  of  tampering  with  public  credit  and  national  honor  been  so  resolutely  and  judi 
ciously  stated  as  by  the  Detroit  Convention.— New  York  Times,  June  Jit,  lt-78. 


376  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

spoke  in  all  the  leading  cities  of  the  State,  and  was  seconded 
by  many  other  orators,  including  James  Gr.  Elaine,  James  A. 
Garfield,  and  Stewart  L.  Woodford,  whose  addresses  were  mas 
terly  examples  of  the  candid,  luminous  and  popular  treatment 
of  a  topic  usually  regarded  as  too  abstruse  and  dry  for  profit 
able  public  discussion.  The  courage  and  honesty  of  this  fight 
were  justly  rewarded.  The  Republicans  carried  the  State  by 
over  47,000  plurality,  and  elected  every  Congressional  candi 
date  and  a  Legislature  with  a  large  Republican  majority  upon 
joint  ballot.  The  victory  was  a  signal  one.  In  no  Western 
State  had  financial  heresy  ever  been  as  resolutely  grappled  with 
and  as  thoroughly  beaten,  and  his  prominent  share  in  this  battle 
must  rank  among  Mr.  Chandler's  most  unselfish  and  honorable 
public  services. 

An  unforeseen  but  almost  poetically  just  result  of  this 
triumph  was  his  own  return  to  Congress.  Senator  Christiancy's 
failing  health  compelled  him  in  the  winter  of  1879  to  seek 
(under  physician's  advice)  rest  and  a  change  of  climate.  The 
President  offered  him  the  embassadorship  at  Berlin,  or  at  Mex 
ico,  or  at  Lima,  and  he  finally  decided  to  accept  the  latter.  His 
nomination  was  sent  to  the  Senate  on  Jan.  29,  1879,  and  con 
firmed  without  reference  to  a  committee.  On  February  10,  his 
resignation  as  Senator  was  laid  before  the  Michigan  Legislature, 
and  on  the  18th  that  body  filled  the  vacancy  by  election.  With 
the  earliest  hints  of  the  possibility  of  Senator  Christiancy's  retire 
ment,  Republican  opinion  and  the  popular  expectation  had 
agreed  that  Mr.  Chandler  would  be  chosen  for  the  remaining 
years  of  what  the  Republicans  of  Michigan  had  unsuccessfully 
sought  to  make  his  fourth  term.  This  was  regarded  as  due 
to  him,  as  still  more  due  to  the  party  which  had  in  1875  been 
deprived  of  its  choice,  and  as  securing  the  restoration  to  public 
activity  of  a  man  of  national  influence  and  prominence,  at  an 
hour  when  the  sagacity  of  his  political  judgment  had  been  vin- 


"THE    JEFF.    DAVIS    SPEECH/ 


377 


dicated  by  the  alarming  attitude  of  the  South,  and  when  the 
sturdiest  qualities  of  leadership  were  needed  in  Washington. 
The  legislative  action  reflected  this  strong  current  of  public  sen 
timent.  In  the  Republican  caucus  (held  in  the  new  Capitol  of 
that  State),  Mr.  Chandler  was  nominated  for  Senator  on  the 
first  formal  ballot,  receiving  sixty -nine  of  the  eighty -nine  votes 
cast.  In  the  Legislature  he  was  elected  by  the  vote  of  every 
Republican  in  his  seat  in  either  branch. 


THE     MICHIGAN     CAPITOL     AT    LANSING. 


On  Feb.  22,  1879,  Mr.  Chandler's  credentials  were  presented 
and  read  in  the  Senate,  and  he  was  escorted  by  Senator  Ferry 
to  the  Vice  -  President's  desk,  where  the  official  oath  was  adminis 
tered  to  him  by  William  A.  Wheeler.  He  took  the  seat  upon 
the  outer  row  of  the  Republican  side,  which  he  had  occupied  in 
other  Congresses.  The  circumstances  of  his  return  to  public  life 
attracted  national  attention,  and  his  re  -  appearance  in  the  Senate 


378  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

was  everywhere  accepted  as  significant  of  the  growth  of  Republi 
can  courage  and  resolution.  But  what  followed  outstripped  all 
expectation  and  was  dramatic  in  its  accessories.  Upon  February 
28,  he  first  addressed  the  Forty -fifth  Senate,  speaking  briefly 
upon  a  bill  providing  for  pension  arrears,  and  in  advocacy  of  an 
amendment  to  make  more  efficient  the  methods  of  detecting 
pension  frauds  by  taking  expert  examiners  from  one  part  of  the 
country  and  sending  them  to  another.  In  this  connection  he 
referred  to  his  own  experience  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  say 
ing  that  he  had  declared  that  with  $100,000  to  so  use  he 
could  save  $1,000,000  to  the  Treasury  yearly.  Upon  the  same 
day,  he  also  spoke  briefly  upon  the  Sundry  Civil  Appropriation 
bill,  opposing  a  proposition  in  it  to  re -open  a  settled  claim 
of  the  war  of  1812,  based  on  expenditures  made  by  some  of  the 
older  States  for  military  purposes.  Pie  spoke  from  recollection 
of  a  discussion  in  1857,  when  this  matter  came  up,  and  showed 
that  the  principal  of  the  claims  had  been  already  paid,  and  that 
this  was  an  attempt  to  collect  compound  interest.  This  measure, 
which  Mr.  Chandler  repeatedly  opposed  during  his  Senatorial 
career,  was  again  defeated  at  this  time.  On  March  1,  a  proposi 
tion  to  pay  Georgia  over  §72,000  compound  interest  upon 
advances  alleged  to  have  been  made  in  1835 -'38  in  the  Creek, 
Seminole  and  Cherokee  wars  was  strenuously  and  successfully 
opposed  by  him.  On  the  28th  of  February,  a  bill  had  been 
passed  by  the  Senate  making  appropriations  for  the  arrearages  of 
pensions.  To  this  an  amendment  was  offered  and  adopted 
extending  to  those  who  served  in  the  war  with  Mexico  the  pro 
visions  of  the  law  passed  in  1878,  giving  pensions  to  the  sur 
viving  soldiers  of  1812.  This  amendment  was  adopted  without 
full  consideration,  and  on  the  evening  of  Sunday,  March  2,  a 
motion  was  made  and  carried  for  a  reconsideration.  Then  an 
amendment  was  offered  excluding  persons  who  served  in  the 
Confederate  army  or  held  any  office  under  the  "  Confederacy " 


"THE    JEFF.   DAVIS    SPEECH."  379 

from  the  benefits  of  this  bill.  This  amendment  was  defeated 
by  the  votes  of  the  Democrats  and  two  Southern  Republicans. 
Another  amendment  was  offered  by  Senator  Hoar  excluding 
Jefferson  Davis  from  the  benefits  of  any  pension  bill.  An  aston 
ishing  debate  followed.  For  some  hours  the  Senate  Chamber 
rang  with  fervent  eulogies  upon  the  arch -rebel  of  the  South. 
Senator  Garland  declared  that  Davis's  record  would  "equal  in 
history  all  Grecian  fame  and  all  Roman  glory."  Senator  Maxey 
pronounced  him  "  a  battle  -  scarred,  knightly  gentleman."  Senator 
Lamar  characterized  the  proposition  as  a  "wanton  insult,"  spring 
ing  from  "  hate,  bitter,  malignant  sectional  feeling,  and  a  sense 
of  personal  impunity ; "  he  added,  "  The  only  difference  between 
"  myself  and  Jefferson  Davis  is  that  his  exalted  character,  his 
"  pre  -  eminent  talents,  his  well  -  established  reputation  as  a  states- 
"  man,  as  a  patriot,  and  as  a  soldier  enabled  him  to  take  the 
"  lead  in  a  cause  to  which  I  consecrated  myself ; "  he  further 
declared  that  Davis's  motives  were  as  "sacred  and  noble  as  ever 
inspired  the  breast  of  a  Hampden  or  a  Washington."  Senator 
Harris  pronounced  him  "  the  peer  of  any  Senator  on  this  floor." 
"  I  will  not,"  said  Senator  Coke,  "  vote  to  discriminate  against 
Mr.  Davis,  for  I  was  just  as  much  a  rebel  as  he."  Senator 
Ransom  said,  "I  shall  not  dwell  upon  Mr.  Davis's  public  serv- 
"  ices  as  an  American  soldier  and  statesman.  He  belongs  to 
"  history,  as  does  that  cause  to  which  he  gave  all  the  ability  of 
"his  great  nature."  There  was  no  lack  of  Republican  protest 
against  this  apotheosis  of  unrepentant  treason,  but  it  was  not 
wholly  free  from  a  certain  deprecatory  tone.  The  Senators  who 
spoke  in  support  of  Mr.  Hoar's  proposition  rather  remonstrated 
against  than  denounced  the  assumption  that  it  was  their  duty  to 
quietly  assent  to  legislation  which  would  place  the  unarnnestied 
and  still  defiant  representative  of  the  Great  Rebellion  on  the  pen 
sion-rolls  of  the  nation.  After  the  debate  had  lasted  for  over 
two  hours,  Mr.  W.  E.  Chandler  of  New  Hampshire,  who  was 


380  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

watching  its  progress  from  the  reporters'  gallery,  said  to  Senator 
E.  H.  Rollins  of  his  State,  uTell  Zacli.  Chandler  that  he  is  the 
man  to  call  Jeff.  Davis  a  traitor."'  Mr.  Rollins  delivered  the 
message,  which  was  received  with  a  nod  of  acquiescence  in  the 
direction  of  the  gallery.  Senator  Morgan  of  Alabama  was 
speaking  at  the  time,  with  Senator  Mitchell  of  Oregon  in  the 
chair.  As  Mr.  Morgan  closed,  Senator  Chandler  rose  and  said : 

Mr.  President,  twenty -two  years  ago  to-morrow,  in  the  old  Hall  of  the 
Senate,  now  occupied  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  I,  in  com 
pany  with  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  stood  up  and  swore  before  Almighty  God  that 
I  would  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis 
came  from  the  Cabinet  of  Franklin  Pierce  into  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
and  took  the  oath  with  me  to  be  faithful  to  this  government.  During  four 
years  I  sat  in  this  body  with  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  and  saw  the  preparations 
going  on  from  day  to  day  for  the  overthrow  of  this  government,  With  treason 
in  his  heart  and  perjury  upon  his  lips  he  took  the  oath  to  sustain  the  govern 
ment  that  he  meant  to  overthrow. 

Sir,  there  was  method  in  that  madness.  He,  in  co  -  operation  with  other 
men  from  his  section  and  in  the  Cabinet  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  made  careful  pre 
paration  for  the  event  that  was  to  follow.  Your  armies  were  scattered  all 
over  this  broad  land  where  they  could  not  be  used  in  an  emergency  ;  your 
fleets  were  scattered  wherever  the  winds  blew  and  water  was  found  to  float 
them,  where  they  could  not  be  used  to  put  down  rebellion  ;  your  Treasury 
was  depleted  until  your  bonds  bearing  six  per  cent,,  principal  and  interest 
payable  in  coin,  were  sold  for  88  cents  on  the  dollar  for  current  expenses,  and 
no  buyers.  Preparations  were  carefully  made.  Your  arms  were  sold  under 
an  apparently  innocent  clause  in  an  army  bill  providing  that  the  Secretary  of 
War  might,  at  his  discretion,  sell  such  arms  as  he  deemed  it  for  the  interest 
of  the  government  to  sell. 

Sir,  eighteen  years  ago  last  month  I  sat  in  these  halls  and  listened  to 
Jefferson  Davis  delivering  his  farewell  address,  informing  us  what  our  consti 
tutional  duties  to  this  government  were,  and  then  he  left  and  entered  into  the 
rebellion  to  overthrow  the  government  that  he  had  sworn  to  support  !  I 
remained  here,  sir,  during  the  whole  of  that  terrible  rebellion.  I  saw  our 
brave  soldiers  by  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands,  aye,  I  might  say 
millions,  pass  through  to  the  theater  of  war,  and  I  saw  their  shattered  ranks 
return  ;  I  saw  steamboat  after  steamboat  and  railroad  train  after  railroad  train 
arrive  with  the  mnimed  and  the  wounded  ;  I  was  with  my  friend  from  Rhode 
Island  (Mr.  Burnsidc)  when  he  commanded  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and 
saw  piles  of  legs  and  arms  that  made  humanity  shudder  ;  I  saw  the  widow 
and  the  orphan  in  their  homes,  and  heard  the  weeping  and  wailing  of  those 


382  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER. 

who  had  lost  their  dearest  and  their  best.  Mr.  President,  I  little  thought  at 
that  time  that  I  should  live  to  hear  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  eulo 
gies  upon  Jefferson  Davis,  living  —  a  living  rebel  eulogized  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  !  Sir,  I  am  amazed  to  hear  it  ;  and  I  can  tell  the 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side  that  they  little  know  the  spirit  of  the  North 
when  they  come  here  at  this  day,  and,  with  bravado  on  their  lips,  utter  eulo 
gies  upon  a  man  whom  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  North  believes 
to  have  been  a  double  -  dyed  traitor  to  his  government. 

This  speech  was  made  at  about  the  hour  of  half -past  three 
in  the  morning  of  Monday,  March  3,  1879.  But  few  people 
were  in  the  galleries  at  that  time,  and  the  Senate  had  lapsed 
into  .a  listless  state.  Mr.  Chandler's  bearing  as  he  arose  to  speak, 
and  the  first  sentence  that  resounded  through  the  Senate  Chamber 
in  his  strong  voice,  aroused  instant  attention.  The  spectators 
above  listened  with  new  and  eager  interest,  Senators  came  in 
from  the  lobbies  and  cloakrooms,  sleep  was  shaken  off  by  drowsy 
attaches,  and  his  closing  words  "a  double-dyed  traitor  to  his 
government"  fell  in  ringing  tones  upon  an  intent  audience  and 
were  answered  by  an  applause  from  the  galleries  which  the 
gavel  of  the  presiding  officer  could  not  check.  Tlis  excited 
hearers  listened  eagerly  for  a  reply,  but  none  came.  After 
some  silent  waiting  the  presiding  officer  stated  the  pending 
question,  and  was  about  to  put  it  to  vote.  Senator  Thurman 
then  rose  and  began  the  discussion  of  another  branch  of  the 
subject,  and  no  answer  was  attempted  to  Mr.  Chandler's  just 
denunciation  of  the  eulogizing  of  the  man,  whose  past  history 
and  present  attitude  unite  to  make  him  at  once  the  representa 
tive  of  treason's  crimes  and  the  embodiment  of  its  unrepentant 
spirit.  When  the  vote  was  taken,  one  majority  was  given  for 
Mr.  Hoar's  amendment,  and  after  that  result  the  original  amend 
ment  itself  was  defeated. 

This  speech  was  a  masterpiece  in  its  way  —  in  its  brevity,  in 
its  skillful  use  of  the  speaker's  early  official  association  with 
Jefferson  Davis,  in  its  vivid  epitome  of  the  history  of  American 
treason,  and  in  the  rugged  power  of  its  simple  language.  It 
most  profoundly  stirred  the  people.  It  may  be  said  without 


"THE    JEFF.   DAVIS    SPEECH."  383 

exaggeration  that  years  had  passed  since  any  Congressional  utter 
ance  had  received  such  public  attention.  Democratic  and  Southern 
denunciation  of  Mr.  Chandler  followed  abundantly,  but  this  was 
wholly  overshadowed  by  the  enthusiasm  of  the  response  of  the 
patriotic  sentiment  of  the  Union  to  his  indignant  refusal  to 
let  treason  raise  its  head  in  insolence  without  branding  it  as 
it  deserved.  The  Northern  press  reprinted  the  speech  with 
unstinted  praise.  Public  men  hastened  in  person,  by  telegraph, 
and  through  the  mails  to  tender  their  congratulations.  Letters 
of  fervent  thanks  poured  in  by  the  hundreds ;  from  utter 
strangers,  from  the  rich  and  the  humble,  from  veteran  soldiers, 
from  mothers  whose  sons  were  buried  on  Southern  battle-fields, 
from  the  colored  men,  from  the  Republicans  of  the  South,  from 
every  State  and  Territory  came  the  expressions  of  gratitude  for 
the  utterance  given  at  so  opportune  a  moment  and  with  such 
force  to  the  loyal  feeling  of  the  republic.  It  was  this  spontane 
ous  approval  of  the  masses  of  the  people  that  Mr.  Chandler 
especially  prized. 

On  March  18,  1879,  the  extra  session  of  the  Forty -sixth 
Congress  commenced,  and  the  Democrats  made  their  abortive 
attempt  to  force  the  repeal  of  the  laws  relating  to  the  supervision 
of  national  elections  by  withholding  appropriations.  Their  reac 
tionary  programme  (the  striking  of  the  last  vestige  of  the  war 
measures  from  the  statute  books  was  even  threatened)  and  revo 
lutionary  menaces  aroused  the  North,  and  in  the  end  they 
quailed  before  the  rising  popular  wrath.  Mr.  Chandler  denounced 
their  schemes  vigorously  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  even  charg 
ing  explicitly  that  twelve  of  the  Southern  Senators  "held  their 
seats  by  fraud  and  violence."  He  also  earnestly  opposed  all 
propositions  to  compel  the  unlimited  coinage  of  the  silver  dollar 
of  412^  grains,  a  measure  which  would  have  given  to  the 
country  a  superabundance  of  silver  currency  of  depreciated  value 
to  the  exclusion  of  gold.  His  last  Congressional  speech  was  this 


384  .   ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

carefully  prepared  and  forcible  "  arraignment  of  the  Democratic 
party,"  of  which  tens  of  thousands  of  copies  were  circulated 
throughout  the  Union  in  the  following  campaign : 

We  have  now  spent  three  months  and  a  half  in  this  Capitol,  not  without 
certain  results.  We  have  shown  to  the  people  of  this  nation  just  what  the 
Democratic  party  means.  The  people  have  been  informed  as  to  your  objects, 
ends,  and  aims.  By  fraud  and  violence,  by  shot-guns  and  tissue  ballots,  you 
hold  a  present  majority  in  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  you  have  taken  an 
early  opportunity  to  show  what  you  intend  to  do  with  that  majority  thus 
obtained.  You  arc  within  sight  of  the  promised  land,  but  like  Moses  of  old 
we  propose  to  send  you  up  into  the  mountain  to  die  politically. 

Mr.  President,  we  are  approaching  the  end  of  this  extra  session,  and  its 
record  will  soon  become  history.  The  acts  of  the  Democratic  party,  as  mani 
fested  in  this  Congress,  justify  me  in  arraigning  it  before  the  loyal  people  of 
the  United  States  on  the  political  issues  which  it  has  presented,  as  the  enemy 
of  the  nation  and  as  the  author  and  abettor  of  rebellion. 

1.  I   arraign   the   Democratic   party   for   having  resorted  to   revolutionary 
measures  to  carry  out  its  partisan  projects,  by  attempting  to  coerce  the  Execu 
tive    by    withholding    supplies,    and     thus    accomplishing    by    starvation    the 
destruction  of  the  government  which  they  had  failed  to  overthrow  by  arms. 

2.  I  arraign  them  for  having  injured  the  business  interests  of  the  country 
by  forcing  the  present  extra   session,  after  liberal   compromises  were   tendered 
to  them  prior  to  the  close  of  the  last  session. 

3.  I  arraign  them  for  having  attempted  to  throw  away  the   results  of  the 
recent  war  by  again  elevating  State  over  National  Sovereignty.     We  expended 
$5,000,000,000  and   sacrificed   more   than    300,030   precious   lives    to    put  down 
this  heresy  and  to  perpetuate   the   national  life.     They  surrendered   this   heresy 
at  Appomattox,  but  now  they  attempt  to  renew  this  pretension. 

4.  I  arraign  them  for  having  attempted  to   damage  the   business  interests 
of  the   country  by  forcing   silver    coin    into   circulation,  of   less  value   than  it 
represents,  thus  swindling  the  laboring -man  and  the   producer,  by  compelling 
them  to  accept  85  cents  for  a  dollar,  and  thus  enriching  the  bullion  -  owners  at 
the  expense  of  the  laborer.    Four  million  dollars  a  day  is  paid  for  labor  alone, 
and    by  thus    attempting    to  force    an    85  cent    dollar    on    the    laboring -man 
you  swindle  him  daily  out   of   $600,000.     Twelve   hundred   million    dollars  are 
paid  yearly  for  labor  alone,  and  by  thus  attempting  to  force  an  85 -cent  dollar 
on    the    laboring -man   you    swindle    him    out    of    $180,000,000    a    year.      The 
amount  which  the  producing  class  would  lose  is  absolutely  incalculable. 

5.  I  arraign  them  for  having  removed  without   cause   experienced  officers 
and  employes  of  this  body,  some  of  whom   served   anrl  were  wounded  in  the 
Union  army,  and  for  appointing   men  who  had   in  the   rebel   army  attempted 
to  destroy  this  government. 


"THE    JEFF.    DAVIS    SPEECH."  385 

6.  I  arraign  them,  for  having  instituted  a  secret  and   illegitimate  tribunal, 
the  edicts  of  which  have  been   made    the   supreme   governing    power    of   Con 
gress   in    defiance    of    the    fundamental    principles    of    the    constitution.      The 
decrees  of  this  junta  are  known  although  its  motives  are  hidden. 

7.  I  arraign  them   for   having   held  up   for    public    admiration   that  arch- 
rebel,  Jefferson    Davis,  declaring    that   he  was    inspired    by  motives    as   sacred 
and  as   noble   as   animated    Washington  ;    and   as   having    rendered   services  in 
attempting  to   destroy  the    Union   which   will  equal    in    history    Grecian   fame 
and  Roman  glory.     [Laughter   on  the  Democratic  side  and   in   portions  of  the 
galleries.]     You  can  laugh.     The  people  of  the  North  will  make  you  laugh  on 
the  other  side  of  your  faces  ! 

8.  I  arraign  them  for  having  undertaken   to   blot   from   the   statute  -  book 
of  the   nation  wise   laws,  rendered    necessary  by  the    war  and  its  results,  and 
insuring  "life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness"  to  the  emancipated  f reed- 
men,  who  are  now  so  bulldozed  and  ku  -  kluxed  that  they  are  seeking  peace  in 
exile,  although  urged  to  remain  by  shot  -  guns. 

9.  I   arraign    them   for   having   attempted   to    repeal   the    wise    legislation 
which  excludes  those  who  served  under  the  rebel   flag   from  holding   commis 
sions  in  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States. 

10.  I  arraign  them  for  having   introduced   a   large   amount    of   legislation 
for  the  exclusive  benefit  of  the  States  recently  in  rebellion,  wThich,  if  enacted, 
would  bankrupt  the  national  Treasury. 

11.  I  arraign  them  for   having   conspired   to   destroy  all   that   the   Repub 
lican  party  has  accomplished.    Many  of  them  breaking  their  oaths  of  allegiance 
to  the  United  States    and  pledging  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred 
honors    to    overthrow    this   government,    they   failed,    and    thus    lost    all    they 
pledged. 

Coll  a  halt.  The  days  of  vaporing  are  over.  The  loyal  North  is  aroused 
and  their  doom  is  sealed. 

I  accept  the  issue  on  these  arraignments  distinctly  and  specifically  before 
the  citizens  of  this  great  republic.  As  a  Senator  of  the  United  States  and  as 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  I  appeal  to  the  people.  It  is  for  those  citizens 
to  say  who  is  right  and  who  is  wrong.  I  go  before  that  tribunal  confident 
that  the  Republican  party  is  right  and  that  the  Democratic  party  is  wrong. 

They  have  made  these  issues  ;    not  we  ;    and  by  them  they  must  stand  or 
fall.     This  is  the  platform  which  they  have  constructed,  not  only  for  1879  but 
for  1880.     They  cannot  change  it,  for  we   will   hold   them   to   it.      They  have 
made  their  bed,  and  we  will  see  to  it  that  they  lie  thereon. 
95 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1879 MR.  CHANDLER'S  LAST  DAYS DEATH  AND 

FUNERAL. 

'HE  closing  hours  of  the  Forty -fifth  Congress  and  the 
jxtra  session  of  the  Forty -sixth  may  be  said  to  have 
revealed  Mr.  Chandler  to  the  country.  While  he  had 
been  well  known  he  had  not  been  truly  known.  He  then 
became  a  central  figure  in  the  public  attention.  His  utterances 
were  universally  discussed,  and  with  discussion  came  a  juster 
appreciation  of  the  man.  The  people  at  last  saw  him  as  he  was, 
the  possessor  of  strong  common -sense,  a  cool  and  indefatigable 
worker,  a  sagacious  and  fearless  leader,  a  man  who  had  never 
sacrificed  principle  to  policy,  who  had  never  compromised  with 
crimes  against  liberty  or  the  nation's  honor,  whose  most  malig 
nant  enemies  had  not  accused  him  of  being  influenced  by  corrupt 
motives,  and  one  gifted  with  the  rare  capacity  of  saying  the 
right  thing  at  the  right  time  in  terse,  impromptu  sentences,  in 
epigrams  which  became  political  mottoes. 

The  campaign  of  1879  followed  closely  upon  the  midsummer 
adjournment  of  Congress,  and  invitations  to  address  the  people 
came  to  Mr.  Chandler  from  a  score  of  States.  'No  public  speaker 
was  in  more  urgent  demand,  or  aroused  a  keener  interest.  The 
popular  gatherings,  which,  during  the  summer  and  fall,  greeted 
his  every  appearance  from  the  shores  of  the  Great  Lakes  to  the 
Atlantic  seaboard,  amounted  to  a  genuine  ovation.  His  first 
address  was  delivered  before  the  Republican  State  Convention  of 
Wisconsin,  at  Madison,  on  July  23.  In  August  he  made  six 
speeches  in  Maine  to  immense  mass  meetings.  In  September  he 


DEATH    AND    BURIAL.  387 

visited  Ohio,  and  spoke  at  Sandusky,  Toledo,  Warren,  Cleveland, 
and  other  important  points.  His  audiences  in  that  State  were 
uniformly  large,  and  his  Warren  speech  was  delivered  in  the 
afternoon  to  an  enormous  crowd,  one  of  the  greatest  ever  called 
together  upon  such  an  occasion  in  the  Western  Reserve.  He 
was  greatly  pleased  by  an  invitation,  which  came  to  him  at  about 
this  time,  from  Senator  G.  F.  Hoar,  to  visit  Massachusetts  in 
October.  It  was  unexpected,  and  he  had  believed  that  the 
Republican  leaders  in  the  Bay  State  were  inclined  to  look  upon 
him  with  distrust.  He  accepted  it  promptly,  and  spoke  to  enthu 
siastic  audiences  in  Boston,  Worcester,  Lynn  and  Lowell.  Some 
brief  remarks  made  at  a  dinner  of  the  Middlesex  Club,  in  which 
he  urged  the  national  importance  of  the  pending  contest,  were 
especially  useful  in  stimulating  Republican  activity  and  directing 
it  into  proper  channels.  He  next  addressed  meetings  in  New 
York  at  Flushing,  Albany,  Troy,  Potsdam,  Lowville  and  Buffalo, 
amid  increasing  public  interest.  On  returning  home  from  that 
State  in  the  last  days  of  October,  he  revisited  Wisconsin,  and 
spoke  to  great  crowds  at  Milwaukee,  Oshkosh  and  Janesville, 
returning  to  Chicago,  where,  on  the  evening  of  October  31st,  he 
made  the  last  address  of  his  life. 

The  striking  evidences  of  his  hold  upon  the  popular  confi 
dence,  which  manifested  themselves  during  the  summer  and  fall 
of  1879,  led  to  the  frequent  mention  of  Mr.  Chandler  as  a  pos 
sible  presidential  candidate  in  1880.  His  friends  in  his  own 
State  were  eager  to  formally  present  his  n-ame  to  the  National 
Convention,  and  the  Republican  press  of  Michigan  united  in 
earnestly  advocating  such  a  course.  This  movement  also  mani 
fested  strength  in  other  States,  and  steadily  increased  in  impor 
tance  up  to  the  hour  of  his  death.  Although  Mr.  Chandler  was 
not  insensible  to  this  growing  sentiment,  little  or  nothing  was 
done  by  him  to  promote  it;  he  favored  the  renomination  of 
General  Grant,  and  the  presidential  ambition  he  rated  as  the 


388  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER. 

most  fatal  malady  to  which  public  men  are  subject.*  To  one 
friend,  who  spoke  of  the  popular  feeling  and  his  own  desire  in 
this  matter,  Mr.  Chandler  replied :  "  You  may  vaccinate  me  with 
the  presidency  and  scratch  it  deep,  but  it  won't  take."  To 
another  lie  said :  "  No  !  no  !  Men  recover  from  the  small  -  pox, 
"  cholera  and  yellow  fever,  but  never  from  the  presidential  fever. 
"  I  hope  I  will  never  get  it."  The  movement  in  that  direction, 
which  his  death  so  abruptly  checked,  was  spontaneous  and  sincere, 
and  that  it  was  growing  in  strength  was  undoubted.  What  limit 
that  growth  might  have  reached  and  with  what  result  can  only 
be  conjectured. 

Repeatedly,  during  the  arduous  labors  of  the  year,  did  Mr. 
Chandler's  physical  powers  manifest  signs  of  rebellion  against 
excessive  effort.  In  one  of  his  Ohio  speeches  his  voice  suddenly 
failed,  compelling  him  to  cease  speaking.  He  suffered  several 
times  from  what  seemed  to  be  violent  attacks  of  indigestion, 
and  was  on  one  or  two  occasions  dangerously  distressed  by 
them.  At  Janesville  he  caught  a  severe  cold,  but  when  he 

*  This  letter,  written  to  a  prominent  Republican  of  the  Pacific  coast,  did  not  reach  the 
gentleman  to  whom  it  was  addressed  until  after  Mr.  Chandler's  death,  and  was  then  given 
to  the  public  . 

REPUBLICAN  STATE  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE,    ) 
DETROIT,  Mich.,  Sept.  23,  1879.  f 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :    Your  favor  of  llth  inst.  is  at  hand,  and  contents  noted. 

The  prospects  for  the  success  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  national  election  next 
year  look  much  more  favorable  now  than  they  did  the  year  preceding  the  election  in  1876. 
Republicans  are  united,  and  earnestly  preparing  for  success  as  the  only  hope  of  saving  the 
country  from  the  shot-gun  rule  of  the  Confederate  Democracy.  The  Tammany  bolt 
promises  to  give  us  New  York  both  this  year  and  next. 

Ohio  is  sure  to  go  Republican,  and  there  is  hardly  a  doubt  that  every  Northern  State 
having  a  general  election  this  fall  will  score  a  victory  in  favor  of  a  free  ballot  and  an  hon 
est  count. 

Each  Territory  is  entitled  to  two  delegates  in  the  National  Republican  Convention, 
under  the  rules  heretofore  adopted.  I  am  under  the  impression  now  that  Grant's  chances 
for  the  nomination  are  better  than  those  of  any  other  person ;  but  unless  he  is  nominated 
wrthout  a  contest  he  will  be  out  of  the  field,  and  there  will  be  a  trial  of  strength  between 
the  friends  and  supporters  of  a  few  stalwart  radicals. 

No  unknown  man  of  lukewarm  sentiments  or  obscure  antecedents  will  be  nominated. 

It  is  very  possible  that  Michigan  will  present  a  name  in  the  convention  as  well  as 
Maine,  New  York,  Ohio,  and  perhaps  other  States  ;  but  I  know  nothing  special  in  regard 
to  the  matter,  only  that,  if  General  Grant  is  a  candidate,  no  one  else  will  be.  Very  truly, 
yours,  z.  CHANDLER. 


390  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER. 

reached  Chicago,  on  the  last  day  of  his  life,  he  seemed  to  be  in 
his  usual  robust  health,  and  showed  but  slight  signs  of  fatigue. 
Those  who  called  upon  him  on  that  day  at  the  Grand  Pacific 
Hotel  noted  his  fine  spirits.  His  address  in  that  city  was 
delivered  before  the  Young  Men's  Auxiliary  Republican  Club  in 
McCormick  Hall,  and  he  never  spoke  with  more  animation,  nor 
more  effectively.  The  audience  applauded  almost  every  sentence, 
and  under  that  stimulus  he  rose  to  even  more  than  his  usual 
fervor  of  speech.  His  ringing  sentence,  "  The  mission  of  the 
"  Republican  party  will  not  end  until  you  and  I,  Mr.  Chairman, 
"  can  start  from  the  Canada  border,  travel  to  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
"  ico,  make  Black  Republican  speeches  wherever  we  please,  vote 
"  the  Black  Republican  ticket  wherever  we  gain  a  residence,  and 
"  do  it  with  exactly  the  same  safety  that  a  rebel  can  travel 
"  throughout  the  North,  stop  wherever  he  has  a  mind  to,  and 
"  run  for  judge  in  any  city  he  chooses,"  was  followed  by  cheer 
after  cheer,  until  the  entire  audience  was  standing  and  shouting. 
After  closing  his  speech,  Mr.  Chandler  returned  to  the  Grand 
Pacific  Hotel;  a  few  friends  chatted  with  him  in  his  rooms  for 
a  short  time,  and  at  about  midnight  Representative  Edwin 
Willits  of  Michigan,  who  had  been  one  of  his  hearers,  made  a 
short  call,  and  congratulated  him  upon  the  power  of  his  closing 
appeal.  After  that,  no  man  saw  Mr.  Chandler  alive.  At  seven 
o'clock  on  the  following  morning,  in  accordance  with  orders,  one 
of  the  employes  of  the  hotel  knocked  at  his  door.  There  was 
no  answer,  and  a  look  over  the  transom  showed  a  figure  lying 
in  an  unnatural  attitude  on  the  edge  of  the  bed  with  the  feet 
almost  touching  the  floor.  In  alarm  the  room  was  entered  with  a 
pass-key,  and  Mr.  Chandler  was  found  in  a  half  reclining  posture, 
with  his  coat  about  his  shoulders,  unconsciousness  having  appar 
ently  seized  him  while  he  was  attempting  to  rise  and  summon 
help.  Medical  aid  was  promptly  at  hand,  but  life  was  extinct. 
"  A  Power  had  passed  from  earth."  Zachariah  Chandler  was 
dead ! 


BUST    PROFILE    OF    ZACHAKIAH    CHANDLER. 
[A  sketch  from  Leonard  W.  Volk's  plaster  cast] 


392  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

The  news  spread  at  once  throughout  the  great  city  in  which 
he  had  so  suddenly  fallen;  friends  were  soon  by  his  bedside, 
while  a  large  crowd  gathered  about  the  hotel.  A  coroner's  jury 
was  at  once  impaneled,  listened  to  the  testimony  of  the  physi 
cians,  and  returned  a  verdict  that  death  had  resulted  from 
cerebral  hemorrhage.  Impressions  of  the  features  were  taken  by 
Leonard  "W.  Yolk,  the  eminent  sculptor,  and  the  lifeless  body 
was  then  arranged  by  kind,  if  strange,  hands  for  the  funeral 
casket.  Before  its  removal  to  Detroit,  thousands  who  cherished 
the  memory  of  the  man  looked  mournfully  upon  the  dead  face. 

The  telegraph  bore  the  intelligence  of  this  sudden  death 
promptly  throughout  the  country,  and  the  announcement  was 
answered  by  unusual  demonstrations  of  national  grief.  Through 
out  the  cities  and  towns  of  Michigan,  at  Washington,  and  in 
many  other  places  where  his  name  was  well  known,  the  insignia 
of  mourning  were  at  once  displayed.  Public  men  sent  prompt 
dispatcher  of  sympathy  to  his  family,  upon  whom  the  blow  had 
fallen  with  prostrating  force.  Especially  significant  were  the 
newspaper  tributes  to  the  memory  of  the  bold,  resolute,  and  suc 
cessful  leader  of  men,  whose  star  had  not  set,  but  had  gone  out 
at  the  zenith.  The  President  of  the  United  States  issued  this 
official  order: 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Nov.  1,  1879. 

The  sad  intelligence  of  the  death  of  Zachariah  Chandler,  late  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  and  during  so  many  years  Senator  from  the  State  of  Michigan, 
has  been  communicated  to  the  government  and  to  the  country,  and,  in  proper 
respect  to  his  memory,  I  hereby  order  that  the  several  executive  departments 
be  closed  to  public  business,  and  their  flags,  and  those  of  their  dependencies 
throughout  the  country,  be  displayed  at  half-mast  on  the  day  of  his  funeral. 

R.  B.  HAYES. 

From  the  Executive  Mansion  also  came  this  dispatch  of  per 
sonal  condolence : 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Nov.  1,  1879. 
Mrs.   Z.    Chandler. 

Mrs.  Hayes  joins  me  in  the  expression  of  the  most  heartfelt  sympathy 
with  you  in  your  great  bereavement.  R.  B.  HAYES. 


GEX.  u.  s.  GRANT'S   TKIBUTK. 

[His   endorsement  on  W.  A.  Gavett's  official  notification,  as  a  member  of  the 
Detroit  Commandery    K    T     to  attend  Mr.  Chandler's  funeral.] 


394  ZACHAEIAH    CHANDLER. 

The  following  proclamation  was  published  by  the'  Governor 
of  Michigan  : 

EXECUTIVE  OFFICE,  LANSING,  Nov..  1,  1879. 
To  the  People  of  Michigan: 

An  eminent  citizen  has  suddenly  been  taken  from  us.  Zachariah  Chand 
ler  was  found  dead  in  his  room  at  the  Grand  Pacific  Hotel  in  Chicago  early 
this  morning.  For  nineteen  years  he  has  represented  this  State  in  the  National 
Senate.  He  hekl  this  exalted  position  at  the  most  perilous  period  in  the 
history  of  the  nation,  and  unfalteringly  supported  every  measure  for  the  main 
tenance  of  the  Union.  A  member  of  the  Cabinet  under  the  recent  administra 
tion  of  President  Grant,  he  proved  himself  a  public  officer  of  keen  sagacityi 
of  incorruptible  integrity  and  of  admirable  ability.  A  resident  of  Michigan 
during  the  whole  period  of  his  manhood,  he  has  been  active  in  advancing  the 
interests  of  the  State  and  promoting  its  growth.  By  his  energy  he  secured  a 
competence,  and  by  his  integrity  the  confidence  of  all.  A  statesman  and  a 
leader  among  men,  he  combined  in  an  unusutil  degree  qualities  which  com 
manded  respect  and  admiration.  Taken  from  us  so  unexpectedly,  we  cannot 
but  deeply  feel  and  deplore  his  loss.  I,  therefore,  as  a  tribute  to  his  memory 
and  to  his  public  services,  hereby  direct  the  several  State  offices  to  be  closed 
to  public  business,,  the  flags  to  be  displayed  at  half-mast,  and  the  other  dem 
onstrations  of  public  grief  usual  to  be  made,  on  the  day  of  his  funeral. 

CHARLES  M.  CROSWELL. 

An  unofficial  tribute,  highly  prized  by  Mr.  Chandler's  friends, 
was  that  of  Gen.  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  who  wrote  upon  the  reverse 
of  a  funeral  order  issued  bv  the  Detroit  Comniandery  of  Knights 
Templar  ( shown  him  by  W.  A.  Gavett )  these  lines : 

A  nation,  as  well  as  the  state  of  Michigan,  mourns  the  loss  of  one  of 
her  most  brave,  patriotic  and  truest  citizens.  Senator  Chandler  was  beloved 
by  his  associates  and  respected  by  those  who  disagreed  with  his  political 
views.  The  more  closely  I  became  connected  with  him  the  more  I  appreci 
ated  his  great  merits.  U.  S.  GRANT. 

GALENA,  111.,  Nov.  9,  1879. 

On  the  morning  of  Sunday,  November  2,  an  escort  of  the 
militia  and  of  the  people  of  Chicago  accompanied  the  body  of 
the  dead  Senator  from  the  Grand  Pacific  Hotel  to  the  depot,  and 
delivered  it  to  a  committee  of  prominent  citizens  of  Michigan, 
who  had  arrived  to  receive  it.  The  burial  -  case  was  wrapped 
in  the  national  flag,  and,  when  it  had  been  placed  in  the  car,  its 


DEATH    AND    BURIAL.  395 

lid  was  opened  and  the  face  exposed.  The  train  stopped  at 
Niles,  Kalamazoo,  Marshall,  Jackson,  and  Ann  Arbor,  and  at  each 
place  crowds  came  on  board  to  look  at  the  remains.  When 
Detroit  was  reached,  thousands  of  grief  -  stricken  people  were  at 
the  depot,  and  in  solemn  procession  they  joined  the  military 
escort  in  the  march  to  the  Chandler  mansion.  There  a  few 
loving  friends  received  and  looked  upon  the  silent  and  lifeless 
form.  To  gratify  the  earnest  desire  of  the  many  who  wished 
to  behold  again  the  strong,  earnest  face  of  Zachariah  Chandler 
before  it  was  forever  covered  from  mortal  sight,  the  body  was 
removed  on  the  morning  of  November  5  to  the  City  Hall,  where 
it  lay  until  one  o'clock ;  a  guard  of  honor  kept  watch  at  the 
head  and  foot  of  the  casket,  and  on  either  hand,  for  five  hours, 
a  double  file  of  men  and  women  passed  in  steady  march.  Thou 
sands  of  mournful  glances  were  given  at  the  placid  face  of  the 
dead,  and  many  affecting  incidents  made  touching  this  parting 
tribute  of  the  people.  Then,  from  the  City  Hall,  the  body  was 
borne  to  the  Fort  street  residence  for  the  last  time.  The  day 
was  cold  and  blustering;  a  blinding  snow-storm  set  in.  Yet 
the  streets  were  thronged  by  the  sad  multitude,  while  every 
train  brought  from  Michigan  arid  from  other  States  hundreds 
to  increase  the  sorrowing  concourse;  among  them  were  men 
of  great  reputations  founded  on  useful  and  honorable  public 
careers.  After  impressive  funeral  services  at  the  house,  the 
remains  of  Michigan's  great  Senator,  escorted  by  the  militia  of 
Detroit  and  of  the  neighboring  cities,  by  the  United  States 
troops,  by  civic  societies,  by  Governors,  Senators,  Congressmen, 
Legislators  of  Michigan  and  of  other  States,  and  by  hundreds 
of  friends,  passed  slowly  through  the  streets  draped  in  mourn 
ing,  and  lined  with  dense  crowds  of  people  who  braved  the 
storm  to  pay  this  last  honor  to  Zachariah  Chandler.  At  the 
gates  of  Elmwood  Cemetery  the  militia  and  3ivic  societies  halted, 
presenting  arms  as  the  hearse  rolled  slowly  on  under  its  trees. 


396  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

Upon  a  high  knoll,  fronting  on  Prospect  Avenue,  it  halted; 
the  coffin  was  drawn  slowly  out,  poised  a  moment  over  an  open 
grave,  lowered  to  its  resting-place,  and  "I  am  the  resurrection 
and  the  life "  rose  up  in  solemn  tones  above  the  sobbings  of 
family  and  friends.  Living  green  branches  and  flowers  fell  softly 
down  upon  the  casket,  and  a  new  mound  grew  up  beside  where 
Senator  Chandler's  brother  already  lay. 

Thus  was  Zachariah  Chandler  buried.  Living,  he  was  hon 
ored.  Dead,  he  was  mourned.  Though  dead,  his  labors  and  his 
example  remain,  and  they  form  his  fittest  monument. 


APPENDIX 


THE    LAST    SPEECH 


ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER, 


DELIVERED  IN  McCoRMicK  HALL,  IN  THE  CITY  OF  CHICAGO,  ON  THE 
NIGHT  OF  HIS  DEATH,  OCTOBER  31,  1879. 


[Republished  by  permission  of  Ritchie   &  Williston,  Stenographers,  Room  23,  Howland 

Block,  Chicago.] 


MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  FELLOW  -  CITIZENS  :  It  has  become  the  custom  of 
late  to  restrict  the  lines  of  citizenship  In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
and  in  the  halls  of  Congress  you  will  hear  citizenship  described  as  confined 
to  States,  and  it  is  denied  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  national  citizenship. 
I  to  -  night  address  you,  my  fellow  -  citizens  of  Chicago,  in  a  broad  sense  as 
fellow  -  citizens  of  the  United  States  of  America.  [Applause.]  A  great  crime 
has  been  committed,  my  fellow  -  citizens  —  a  crime  against  this  nation  ,  a  crime 
against  republican  institutions  throughout  the  world  ;  a  crime  against  civil  lib 
erty,  and  the  criminal  is  yet  unpunished  —  that  is  to  say,  he  is  not  punished 
according  to  his  deserts.  [Applause.]  And  I  shall  to-night  devote  myself 
chiefly  to  the  history  of  a  crime,  and  shall  endeavor  to  hold  up  the  criminal 
to  your  execration.  [  Renewed  applause.] 

But,  first,  it  is  proper  for  me  to  allude  to  certain  matters  of  national 
importance,  which  are  at  this  present  moment  living  issues.  Twelve  years  ago 
an  idea  was  started  in  the  neighboring  State  of  Ohio,  called  the  "Ohio 
idea,"  which  spread  and  bore  fruit  in  different  States.  That  idea  was  to  pay 
something  with  nothing.  [  Laughter  ]  From  this  Ohio  idea  sprang  up  a 
brood  of  other  ideas.  For  example,  the  greenback  idea,  an  unlimited  issue 
of  irredeemable  currency,  and  a  party  was  inaugurated  in  different  States 
called  the  greenback  party.  It  took  root  in  Michigan  last  year,  had  a 
vigorous  growth,  put  forth  limbs,  blossomed  liberally,  bore  no  fruit,  and  died. 
[Laughter  and  cheers.]  Therefore,  I  shall  pay  no  attention  to  the  greenback 
party.  It  is  not  a  living  issue.  [Laughter.]  But  the  Ohio  idea  is  still  a 


iv.  APPENDIX. 

living  issue,  and  even  during  the  last  session  of  Congress  a  demand  was 
made,  and  persistently  made,  to  repeal  the  Resumption  act  that  had  been  in 
existence  for  years.  The  resumption  of  specie  payment  was  virtually  accom 
plished  when,  in  1874-5,  that  Resumption  act  became  a  law,  for  at  that  time 
we  made  that  act  so  strong  that  there  was  no  power  on  earth  that  could 
defeat  the  resumption  of  specie  payments  after  it  had  once  been  inaugurated. 
[Applause.]  We  authorized  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  use  any  bonds 
ever  issued  by  the  government,  and  in  any  amount  that  was  necessary,  to 
carry  forward  to  success  specie  payments,  as  soon  as  the  time  arrived  for 
the  resumption.  We  carefully  guarded  that  law.  True,  we  are  under  an 
obligation  to  the  man  who  executed  the  law,  but  the  resumption  of  specie 
payments  was  as  much  a  fixed  fact  when  that  law  was  signed  as  it  is  to  -  day, 
and  all  the  powers  on  earth  combined  could  not  break  that  resumption  when 
it  had  once  been  inaugurated. 

But  this  Ohio  idea,  as  I  said,  was  to  pay  off  your  bonds  with  greenbacks. 
Well,  my  fellow -citizens,  we  have  paid  off  $100,000,000  of  your  bonds  in 
greenbacks  within  the  last  sixty  or  ninety  days,  and  what  more  do  you  want  ? 
Ah  !  But  the  Ohio  idea  was  something  different  from  that.  It  was,  as  I  said 
before,  to  pay  something  with  nothing,  and  up  to  the  final  adjournment  of 
the  last  regular  session  of  Congress  the  attempt  was  still  made  to  issue  irre 
deemable  paper  and  force  it  upon  the  creditors  of  the  nation.  Now,  if  this 
paper  which  they  propose  to  issue  in  paying  off  the  bonds  of  your  govern 
ment  was  properly  and  truthfully  described,  it  would  read  thus  :  "  The 
government  of  the  United  States  for  value  received "— for  it  was  for  value 
received  ;  no  greenback  was  ever  issued  except  for  value  received  ;  no  bond 
of  the  government  was  ever  issued  except  for  value  received — "for  value 
"received,  the  government  of  the  United  States  promises  to  pay  nothing  to 
"nobody,  never."  [Applause  and  laughter.]  That  was  the  paper  with  which 
it  was  proposed  by  these  men,  entertaining  then,  and  now  entertaining  the 
"Ohio  idea,"  to  redeem  the  bonds  of  your  government. 

Now,  you  have  heard,  I  presume,  here  in  Chicago,  the  denunciation  of  the 
holders  of  your  government  bonds.  The  "bloated  bondholder"  was  a  term  of 
reproach,  both  on  the  floor  of  Congress  and  in  the  streets  of  Chicago  and  all 
over  these  United  States.  But  who  were  the  bloated  bondholders  ?  Why, 
my  friends,  every  single  man  who  has  a  dollar  in  the  savings  bank  is  a  bloated 
bondholder,  for  there  is  not  a  savings-bank  in  the  land,  which  ought  to  be 
entrusted  with  a  dollar,  whose  funds  are  not  invested  in  the  bonds  of  your 
government.  [Applause.]  There  is  not  a  widow  or  orphan  who  has  a  fund 
to  support  the  widow  in  her  widowhood  and  the  orphan  in  its  orphanage,  in 
a.  trust  company,  who  is  not  a  bloated  bondholder  ;  for  there  is  not  a  trust 
company  in  the  land  that  ought  to  be  trusted  which  has  not  a  large  propor 
tion  of  its  funds  in  the  bonds  of  your  government.  Every  man  who  has  his 
life  insured,  or  his  house  insured,  or  his  barn,  or  his  lumber,  or  who  has  any 
insurance,  is  a  bloated  bondholder  ;  for  there  is  not  an  insurance  company, 
life,  fire,  marine,  or  of  any  other  class  of  insurance,  that  ought  to  be  trusted, 


MR.    CHANDLER'S    LAST    SPEECH.  v. 

which  has  not  its  funds  invested  in  bonds  of  your  government.  You  may 
go  to  the  books  of  the  Treasury  to-morrow  and  inquire  and  you  will  find 
ninety -nine  men  who  own  $100  and  less  of  the  bonds  of  your  government, 
directly  or  indirectly,  where  you  will  find  one  man  who  owns  $10,000  or 
more.  And  these  men,  entertaining  the  Ohio  idea,  would  ruin  the  ninety -nine 
poor  men  for  the  possible  chance  of  injuring  the  one  -  hundredth  rich  man. 
And  yet  you  may  destroy  the  bonds  of  the  rich  man  and  you  do  him  no 
harm,  for  he  has  but  a  small  amount  of  his  vast  wealth  in  the  bonds  of  your 
government,  while  the  poor  man,  owning  $100  or  under  as  his  little  all,  is 
utterly  ruined.  [Applause.] 

You  would  not  find  a  man,  woman,  or  child  in  America  who  would 
touch  the  kind  of  paper  I  have  described,  if  proffered  to  them.  You  say  you 
would  stop  the  interest  on  your  bonded  debt.  Very  well !  The  holder  of  your 
bonds  would  say:  "You  do  not  propose  to  pay  any  interest.  I  hold  a  bond 
"for  valuj  received,  with  a  given  amount  of  interest  payable  on  a  given  day. 
"Now  I  will  hold  your  bonds  until  you  men  entertaining  the  Ohio  idea  are 
"buried  in  your  political  graves,  and  then  I  will  appeal  to  an  honest  people, 
"to  an  honest  government,  to  pay  an  honest  debt."  [Applause.]  "But,"  say 
these  men,  "pay  off  your  foreign  bonds.''  I  see  men  before  me  who  remem 
ber  the  days  of  General  Jackson,  and  they  likewise  remember  that  in  the  time 
of  General  Jackson  the  government  of  France  owed  to  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  $5,000,000,  which  France  did  not  refuse  to  pay,  but  neglected 
to  pay.  It  ran  along  from  decade  to  decade,  unpaid.  General  Jackson  sent 
for  the  French  minister  and  said  :  "Unless  that  $5,000,000  due  to  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States  is  paid,  I  will  declare  war  against  France."  [Applause.] 
General  Jackson  was  remonstrated  with.  It  would  disturb  the  commercial 
relations,  not  only  of  this  country,  but  the  world.  Said  he,  "  Unless  France 
pays  that  $5,000,000,  by  the  Eternal,  I  will  declare  war  against  France." 
[Applause.]  Every  man,  woman  and  child  and  the  King  of  France  knew 
that  he  would  do  it,  and  the  $5,000,000  was  paid  to  the  United  States.  It  is 
not  $5,000,000  that  your  government  owes  to  the  citizens  of  the  world,  but  it 
is  more  than  fifty  times  five  million,  and  it  is  scattered  in  every  nation  with 
which  we  have  commercial  relations,  or  where  money  is  found  to  invest 
in  your  bonds.  You  say  you  will  stop  the  interest  on  those  bonds.  How 
long  do  you  think  it  would  be  before  a  British  fleet  would  come  sailing  to 
your  coast,  followed  by  a  French  fleet,  and  a  German  fleet,  and  a  Russian, 
and  an  Austrian,  and  a  Spanish  and  an  Italian  fleet,  and  the  British  Admiral 
would  step  ashore  and  say:  "I  have  $50,003,000  of  the  bonds  of  this 
"government  belonging  to  the  citizens  of  Great  Britain,  which  I  am  ordered 
"to  collect!"  The  answer  is:  "Your  account  is  correct,  sir.  The  govern- 
"ment  of  the  United  States  owes  just  $50,000,000  to  the  citizens  of  Great 
"Britain,  and  here  is  your  money,  sir." 

[Mr.   Chandler,  suiting   the  action  to  the  word,  held  out  a  sheet  of  paper 
with   $50,000,000  written  upon  it,  and  the  audience   burst  out  into  loud  and 
long  -  continued  laughter.] 
26 


vi.  APPENDIX. 

The  British  Admiral  looks  at  it  and  says  :    "What's  that  ? " 

"Why.  money.  Don't  you  see?  Why,  it  is  a  first  mortgage  on  all  the 
"property  of  all  the  citizens  of  all  the  United  States."  [Laughter.]  "Don't 
"you  see  the  stamp  of  the  government  ?"  [Laughter.] 

Says  the  Admiral  :    "Where  is  it  payable  ?" 

"Nowhere."     [Laughter  and  applause.] 

"To  whom  is  it  payable  ?" 

"Nobody."     [Laughter.] 

"When  is  it  made  payable?" 

"Never."     [Renewed  laughter  and  cheers.] 

"Why,"  says  the  Admiral,  "I  don't  know  any  such  money.  My  orders 
"are  to  collect  this  $50,000,000  in  the  coin  of  the  world,  and  unless  it  is  so 
"paid  my  orders  are  to  blockade  every  port  of  these  United  States,  and  here 
"are  all  the  navies  of  the  earth  to  assist  me,  and  to  burn  down  every  city 
"that  my  guns  will  reach." 

Honesty  is  the  best  policy  with  nations  as  well  as  with  individuals. 
[Cheers.]  "Well,"  they  say,  "perhaps  you  are  right  about  this  bond  busi- 
"  ness.  It  is  an  open  question,  and  we  will  abandon  that,  but  the  national 
"banks  —  down  with  the  national  banks!  [Laughter  and  applause.]  Abolish 
"national  banks  and  save  interest."  What  do  you  want  to  abolish  the  national 
banks  for?  That  is  a  living  issue  to-day  —  a  present  proposition  of  the 
Democratic  party  that  I  propose  to  hold  up  to  your  abhorrence  before  I  get 
through  to-night  What  do  you  want  to  "down  with  the  national  banks" 
for  ?  I  was  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  when  that  national  banking 
law  was  passed.  I  was  a  member  of  that  body  and  voted  upon  every  proposi 
tion  made  in  it,  I  had  had  a  little  experience  in  state  banks  myself. 
[Laughter  and  applause.]  Michigan  had  a  very  large  state  bank  circulation 
at  one  time  [loud  applause],  and  we  called  that  "money"  in  those  days 
wild -cat  money  [laughter],  and  it  was  very  wild.  [Renewed  laughter  and 
applause.]  Chicago  also  had  a  little  experience  in  those  days  as  well  as 
Michigan.  In  those  days  it  was  necessary  for  any  man  liable  to  receive  a 
five  -  dollar  note  to  carry  a  counterfeit  detector  with  him  for  three  purposes 
First,  to  ascertain  whether  there  ever  was  such  a  bank  in  existence.  [Laugh 
ter  and  applause.]  Second,  to  ascertain  whether  the  bill  was  counterfeit,  and, 
third,  to  ascertain  whether  the  bank  had  failed  [laughter] — and  as  a  rule  it 
ha  1  failed.  [Laughter  and  applause.]  Now,  we  had  two  objects  in  view  in 
getting  up  that  national  banking  law.  First,  we  wanted  to  furnish  an  abso 
lutely  safe  circulating  medium,  so  that  no  loss  could  ensue  to  the  bill -holder. 
Second,  we  wanted  to  furnish  a  market  for  our  bonds  which  had  become 
somewhat  of  a  drug.  We  might  just  as  well  have  put  in  state  bonds  as 
security  for  those  bank  notes.  It  would  have  been  just  as  legal,  just  as  right, 
but  we  didn't  know  which  one  or  how  many  of  those  rebel  States  would 
repudiate  their  bonds,  and  therefore  we  didn't  put  in  any.  [Laughter  and 
applause.]  We  might  just  as  well  have  put  in  railroad  bonds,  but  we  didn't 


MR.    CHANDLER'S    LAST    SPEECH.  vii. 

know  how  many  railroads  would  default  in  their  interest.  We  might  just  as 
well  havu  p:ri  in  real  estate,  but  we  didn't  know  whether  the  neighbors  of 
the  banker  would  appraise  the  real  estate  at  its  actual  cash -selling  value. 
[Applause  and  laughter.]  And  therefore  we  put  in  the  bonds  of  your  govern 
ment  at  90  cents  on  the  dollar;  so  that  to-day  for  every  single  00  cents  of 
national  bank  notes  afloat  there  is  103  cents— (worth  102£  cents)  — of  the 
bonds  of  your  government  deposited  with  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States 
for  the  redemption  of  the  90  cents.  [Applause.]  And  you  don't  know  and 
you  don't  care  whether  the  bank  is  located  in  Oregon,  in  Texas,  in  South 
Carolina,  Mississippi,  New  York  or  Illinois,  because  you  know  there  is  102£ 
cents  to  -  day  of  the  bonds  of  your  government  deposited  with  the  Treasurer 
of  the  United  States  for  the  redemption  of  every  90  cents  of  national  bank 
notes  you  hold.  You  don't  know*  and  you  don't  care  whether  the  bank  whose 
note  you  have  in  your  pocket  failed  yesterday,  last  week,  or  last  year,  or 
whether  it  ever  failed.  And  you  never  find  that  out,  for  if  trouble  comes  the 
bonds  are  sold  and  your  bank  notes  are  redeemed  the  day  after,  or  the  week 
after,  or  the  year  after  your  bank  has  failed,  precisely  the  same  as  though  it 
had  never  failed.  [  Applause.  ] 

Now  you  say,  "Call  in  your  bonds;  abolish  the  national  bank  notes." 
Very  well !  You  pass  a  law  to  -  morrow  repealing  the  charters  of  all  your 
national  banks.  Call  in  the  national  bank  notes  !  Every  national  bank  in 
America  takes  the  exact  amount  of  the  circulation  which  it  has,  either  in  silver 
or  gold  or  greenbacks,  to  the  Treasury,  leaves  it  there  to  redeem  its  notes, 
takes  the  bonds  and  distributes  them  among  the  stockholders  of  that  bank, 
and  the  day  after  you  have  called  in  every  national  bank  note  that  you  have 
out,  you  pay  the  self -same  amount  of  interest  on  your  bonds  that  you  paid 
the  day  before,  not  one  farthing  more  nor  less.  You  don't  gain  one  cent,  but 
you  lose  $16,500,000  of  taxes  paid  this  year  and  last  year  and  every  year  upon 
the  stock  of  the  national  banks  to  national,  state  and  municipal  governments. 
[Applause.]  Yiou  gain  nothing,  and  you  lose  $10,500,000.  You  distress  the 
whole  community  of  these  United  States  by  compelling  your  banks  to  call  in 
$850,000,000,  now  loaned  and  now  being  used  in  commerce,  manufactures  and 
all  the  industries  of  the  nation.  You  distress  the  people  by  forcing  a  recall 
of  that  amount.  No,  my  friends,  in  my  judgment  you  had  better  devote 
yourselves  to  something  you  understand,  and  let  the  national  banks  alone. 
[Applause  and  laughter.] 

But  they  say,  ''There  is  one  thing  that  we  know  we  are  right  on,  and 
that  is  the  free  coinage  of  silver."  Every  man  who  holds  85  cents  worth  of 
silver  shall  go  to  the  Treasury  or  the  mints  of  the  United  States  and  take  a 
certificate  of  deposit  for  100  cents,  which  shall  pass  as  money.  This  was  the 
Warner  bill.  This  the  Democratic  party  as  a  party  was  committed  to,  and  is 
committed  to.  and  on  the  very  last  day  of  the  extra  session  by  a  majority 
vote  of  one,  and  only  one,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  we  substantially 
laid  that  bill  upon  the  table,  every  Republican  voting  aye,  and  every  Demo 


viii.  APPENDiA. 

crat,  except  four  of  five,  voting  no.  [Applause.]  Now,  to-day,  the  laboring 
man  can  take  gold  or  silver  or  paper,  as  he  chooses,  for  his  day's  labor  1 
am  in  favor  of  the  dual  standard.  I  am  in  favor  of  a  silver  dollar  with  100 
cents  in  it.  I  am  in  favor  of  an  honest  dollar  anywhere  you  can  find  it 
[cheers],  and  I  stand  by  an  honest  dollar.  To-day  the  laboring  man  can 
take  gold  or  silver  or  paper,  and  they  are  all  of  equal  value,  because  they  are 
all  interchangeable  into  each  other.  The  paper  dollar  costs  nothing  ;  a  silver 
dollar  costs  the  government  85  cents  —  a  fraction  more  now  ;  it  has  been  a 
fraction  less.  But  all  three  are  of  equal  value.  Now  the  very  moment  you  • 
commence  issuing  those  certificates  of  deposit  freely  to  every  man  having 
bullion  you  banish  gold  from  your  circulating  medium  and  make  it  an  article 
of  traffic  and  nothing  else  ;  and  you  have  but  a  single  standard,  and  that  is  a 
depreciated  standard.  Now  there  is  paid  out  in  these  United  States  every  day 
for  labor  alone  $4,000,000.  By  compelling  the  substitution  of  the  silver  dollar 
alone,  you  swindle  the  laboring  man  out  of  $600,000  a  day.  The  laboring 
man  who  receives  a  dollar  gets  but  85  cents.  The  man  who  receives  $10  a 
week  gets  $8.50,  and  no  more.  The  farmer  who  sells  a  horse,  or  the  man  who 
sells  a  load  of  lumber,  or  a  load  of  wheat,  or  anything  else  amounting  to  $100, 
receives  but  $85,  and  no  more.  You  have  but  one  single  standard,  and  that 
the  silver  standard,  which,  having  banished  gold,  is  worth  precisely  the  metal 
that  is  in  it.  Who  is  benefited  by  this  substitution  ?  Why.  my  friends,  not 
a  living  mortal  is  benefited,  except  the  bullion  -  owner  and  the  bullion- 
speculator.  I  do  not  charge  these  men  with  being  bribed  to  pass  that  law, 
because  I  have  no  proct  of  it  ;  but  I  do  say  that  the  bullion  -  owners  and  the 
bullion  -  speculators  can  afford  to  pay  $10,000,000  in  bullion  for  the  privilege 
of  swindling  the  laboring  men  of  the  country  out  of  15  per  cent,  of  all  their 
earnings.  [Applause.]  They  say,  "That  may  all  be  true;  we  don't  know 
how  it  is  ;  we  have  not  been  bribed "  —  and  I  never  knew  a  man  that  would 
own  up  that  he  was  bribed  in  my  life.  [Laughter.]  I  don't  say  that  they 
are,  but  I  do  say  that  they  are  engaged  in  a  mighty  mean  business.  [  Laughter 
and  applause.] 

But  there  is  another  question  which  is  of  vital  interest  to  every  man, 
woman  and  child  in  America,  and  that  is  this  question  of  the  enormous  rebel 
claims  against  your  government.  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  list  of  the  claims  now 
before  the  two  houses  of  Congress,  and  being  pressed— cotton  claims,  claims 
for  the  destruction  of  property,  for  quartermaster's  stores,  for  every  conceiv 
able  thing  that  war  could  produce.  I  have  a  list  of  claims  right  here  [holding 
up  several  sheets  of  paper  containing  names  and  amounts  ]  aggregating  many 
hundreds  of  millions.  And  the  only  thing  to-day  —  the  Senate  and  the  House 
both  being  under  the  control  of  those  Southern  rebels  —  the  only  protection, 
tha  only  barrier  between  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  and  those  rebel 
claims  is  a  presidential  veto  [cheers],  and  thank  God  for  the  veto  !  [Long- 
continued  applause.]  But  these  claims  are  not  all.  There  are  claims  innumer 
able  which  they  dare  not  yet  present.  You  may  go  through  every  State  in 


MR    CHANDLER'S    LAST    SPEECH.  ix. 

the  Southland  somewhere,  hidden  away,  you  will  find  a  claim  for  every  slave 
that  ever  was  liberated.  In  the  files  of  the  Senate  and  the  House  you  will 
find  demands  for  untold  millions  of  dollars  to  improve  streams  that  do  not 
exist  —  where  you  will  have  to  pump  the  water  to  get  up  a  stream  at  all. 
[Laughter  and  applause.]  Demands  for  untold  millions  to  build  the  levees  of 
the  Mississippi  river  !  We  have  already  given  the  Southern  people  33,000,000 
of  acres  of  land  which  would  be  reclaimed  by  those  levees,  and  now  they 
propose  to  bankrupt  your  Treasury  by  telling  you,  people  of  the  North,  to 
build  the  levees  to  make  the  lands  which  you  gave  them  valuable. 

To  show  you  that  I  am  not  over -stating  this  idea  of  Southern  claims,  I 
will  read  you  a  petition  which  is  now  being  circulated  throughout  the  South  : 

"We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  most  respectfully  petition  your 
"  honorable  bodies  to  enact  a  law  by  which  all  citizens  of  every  section  of  the 
"United  States  may  be  paid  for  all  their  property  destroyed  by  the  govern- 
"  ments  and  armies  on  both  sides,  during  the  late  war  between  the  States,  in 
"bonds,  bearing  3  per  cent,  interest  per  annum,  maturing  within  the  next  one 
' '  hundred  years. " 

Every  soldier  who  served  in  the  Northern  army  has  been  paid.  Every 
dollar's  worth  of  property  furnished  to  the  Northern  army  has  been  paid  for. 
Every  widow  or  orphan  of  a  wounded  soldier  entitled  to  a  pension  has  been 
pensioned,  so  that  there  is  no  claim  from  the  North  ;  but  this  means  that  you 
shall  do  for  the  South  precisely  what  you  have  done  for  your  own  soldiers. 

But  I  have  not  yet  reached  the  milk  in  this  cocoa-nut.     [Laughter.] 

"And  we  also  petition  that  all  soldiers,  or  their  legal  representatives,  of 
"  both  armies  and  every  section,  be  paid  in  bonds  or  public  lands  for  their 
"lost  time  [laughter],  limbs,  and  lives  while  engaged  in  the  late  unfortunate 
"civil  conflict."  [Laughter  and  applause.] 

That  all  soldiers  be  paid  for  their  lost  time  while  fighting  to  overthrow 
your  government  !  That  they  shall  be  paid  for  their  lost  limbs  and  their  lost 
lives  while  fighting  to  overthrow  your  government  ! 

Ah,  my  fellow  -  citizens,  they  are  in  sober,  serious,  downright  earnest. 
They  have  captured  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  the  only  obstacle  to  the 
payment  of  these  infamous  claims  is  the  presidential  veto,  and  there  is  not  a 
man  before  me  who  has  not  a  personal,  direct  interest  in  seeing  to  it  that  the 
rebels  do  not  capture  the  balance  of  Washington.  [Applause.]  These  rebel 
States  are  solid  —  solid  for  repudiating  your  debt,  solid  for  paying  these  rebel 
claims  ;  they  have  repudiated  their  individual  debts  through  the  bankrupt 
law  ;  they  have  repudiated  their  State  debts  by  scaling,  and  then  refusing  to 
pay  the  interest  on  what  has  been  scaled  ;  they  have  repudiated  their  muni 
cipal  debts  by  repealing  the  charters  of  their  cities,  towns,  and  villages.  And 
do  you  think  they  are  more  anxious  to  pay  the  debt  contracted  for  their 
subjugation  than  they  are  to  pay  their  own  honest  debts  ?  I  tell  you,  No. 
They  mean  repudiation,  and  do  not  mean  that  your  debt  shall  be  of  any  move 
value  than  their  own.  When  you  trust  them  you  are  making  a  mistake,  and 


x.  APPENDIX. 

I  do  not   believe  you  will   ever  do  it  again.     [Laughter  and   applause,  and 
voices  :     "  We  won't  !  "  ] 

But  we  have  a  matter  under  consideration  to-night  of  vastly  more  impor 
tance  than  all  the  financial  questions  that- can  be  presented  to  you,  and  that  is, 
Is  this  or  is  it  not  a  Nation  !  We  had  supposed  for  generations  that  this  was 
a  Nation.  Our  fathers  met  in  convention  to  frame  a  constitution,  and  they 
found  some  difficulty  in  agreeing  upon  the  details  of  that  constitution,  and  for 
a  time  it  was  a  matter  of  extreme  doubt  whether  any  agreement  could  be 
reached.  Acrimonious  debate  took  place  in  that  convention,  but  finally  a 
spirit  of  compromise  prevailed,  and  the  constitution  was  adopted  by  the 
convention  and  submitted  to  the  people  of  these  United  States.  Not  to  the 
States,  but  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States  adopted  the  constitution  that  was  framed  by  the  fathers,  and  for  many 
long  years  the  whole  people  of  the  United  States  believed  that  we  had  a 
Government.  The  whisky  rebellion  broke  out  in  Pennsylvania,  and  was  put 
down  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  Government,  and  we  still  believed  that  we 
had  a  Government.  We  continued  in  that  belief  until  the  days  of  General 
Jackson,  when  South  Carolina  raised  the  flag  of  rebellion  against  the  Govern 
ment.  Armed  men  trod  the  soil  of  South  Carolina  and  threatened  that  unless 
the  tariff  was  modified  to  suit  their  views  tlisy  would  overthrow  the  Govern 
ment.  This  w;:s  under  the  leadership  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  in  carrying  out 
his  doctrine.  Old  General  Jackson  took  his  pipe  out  of  his  mouth  when  he 
was  told  that  Calhoun  was  in  rebellion  against  the  Government,  and  said  : 
"Let  South  Carolina  commit  the  first  act  of  treason  against  this  Government, 
and,  by  the  Eternal,  I  will  hang  John  C.  Calhoun  ! "  and  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  in  America,  including  Calhoun,  knew  that  he  would  do  it,  and  the 
first  act  of  treason  was  not  committed  against  the  Government,  for  even  the 
State  of  South  Carolina,  under  the  leadership  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  had  bowed 
to  its  power. 

We  remained  under  that  impression  until  I  first  took  my  seat  in  the 
Senate  on  the  4th  day  of  March,  1857.  Then,  again,  treason  was  threatened  on- 
the  floor  of  the  Senate  and  on  the  floor  of  the  House.  They  said  then  :  "Do 
"this  or  we  will  destroy  your  Government.  Fail  to  do  that,  and  we  will 
"  destroy  your  Government."  One  of  them  in  talking  to  brave  old  Ben.  Wade 
one  day  repeated  this  threat,  and  the  old  man  straightened  himself  up  and 
said:  "Don't  delay  it  on  my  account."  [Laughter.]  Careful  preparations 
were  made  to  carry  out  these  treasons.  Jefferson  Davis  stepped  out  of  the 
Cabinet  of  Franklin  Pierce,  as  Secretary  of  War,  into  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  and  became  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs. 
There  was  an  innocent  -  looking  clause  in  the  general  appropriation  bill  which 
read  that  the  Secretary  of  War  might  sell  such  arms  as  he  deemed  it  for 
the  interest  of  the  government  to  dispose  of.  Under  that  apparently  innocent 
clause,  your  arsenals  were  opened  ;  your  arms  and  implements  of  war  went 
together  with  your  ammunition;  your  accoutrements  followed  your  arms;  your 


MR.    CHANDLER'S    LAST    SPEECH.  xi. 

navy  was  scattered  wherever  the  winds  blew  and  sufficient  water  was  found 
to  float  your  ships,  where  they  could  not  be  used  to  defend  your  government. 
The  credit  of  the  government,  whose  6  per  cent,  bonds  in  1857  sold  for  122 
cents  on  the  dollar,  was  so  utterly  prostrated  and  debased  that  in  February, 
1861— four  years  afterward —bonds  payable,  principal  and  interest  in  gold[ 
bearing  6  per  cent.,  were  sold  for  88  cents  on  the  dollar,  with  no  buyers  for 
the  whole  amount.  Careful  preparations  were  made  for  the  overthrow  of 
your  government,  and  when  Abraham  Lincoln  [cheers]  took  the  oath  of 
office  as  President  of  the  United  States  [cheers],  you  had  no  army,  no  navy, 
no  money,  no  credit,  no  arms,  no  ammunition,  nothing  to  protect  the  national 
life.  Yet  with  all  these  discouragements  staring  us  in  the  face,  the  Republican 
party  undertook  to  save  your  government.  [Applause.]  We  raised  your 
credit,  created  navies,  raised  armies,  fought  battles,  carried  on  the  war  to  a 
successful  issue,  and,  finally,  when  the  rebellion  surrendered  at  Appomattox, 
they  surrendered  to  a  Government.  [Applause.]  They  admitted  that  they  had 
submitted  their  heresy  to  the  arbitrament  of  arms  and  had  been  defeated, 
and  they  surrendered  to  the  government  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
[Applause.]  They  made  no  claims  against  this  government,  for  they  had 
none.  In  tli3  very  ordinance  of  secession  which  they  had  signed  they  had 
pledged  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor  to  the  overthrow  of 
this  government,  and  when  they  failed  to  do  it,  they  lost  all  they  had  pledged. 
[Cries  of  "Good."]  They  made  no  claims  against  the  government  because 
they  had  none.  They  asked,  and  asked  as  a  boon  from  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  that  their  miserable  lives  might  be  spared  to  them. 
[Applause.]  We  gave  them  their  lives.  They  had  forfeited  all  their  property 
—  we  gave  it  back  to  them.  We  found  them  naked  and  we  clothed  them. 
They  were  without  the  rights  of  citizenship,  having  forfeited  those  rights,  and 
we  restored  them.  We  took  them  to  our  bosoms  as  brethren,  believing  that 
they  had  repented  of  their  sins.  We  killed  for  them  the  fatted  calf,  and 
invited  them  to  the  feast,  and  they  gravely  informed  us  that  they  had  always 
owned  that  animal,  and  were  not  thinkful  for  the  invitation.  [Great  laughter 
and  cheers.]  By  the  laws  of  war,  and  by  the  laws  of  nations,  they  were 
bound  to  pay  every  dollar  of  .the  expense  incurred  in  putting  down  that 
rebellion.  Germany  compelled  France  to  pay  $1,000,000,000  in  gold  coin  for  a 
brief  campaign.  The  seceding  States  were  bound  by  the  laws  of  war  and  by 
the  laws  of  nations  to  pay  every  dollar  of  the  debt  contracted  for  their  subju 
gation,  but  we  forgave  them  that  debt,  and,  to-day,  you  are  being  taxed 
heavily  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  debt  that  they  ought  to  have  paid. 
[  Applause.]  Such  magnanimity  as  was  exhibited  by  this  nation  to  these 
rebels  has  never  been  witnessed  on  earth  [applause],  and,  in  my  humble 
judgment,  will  never  be  witnessed  again.  [Cheers.]  Mistakes  we  undoubtedly 
made,  errors  we  committed,  and  I  will  take  my  full  share  of  responsibility 
for  the  errors,  for  I  was  there,  and  voted  upon  every  proposition  ;  but,  in  my 
humble  judgment,  the  greatest  mistake  we  made,  and  the  gravest  error  we 


xii.  APPENDIX. 

committed  was  in  not  hanging  enough  of  these  rebels  to  make  treason  forever 
odious.  [Prolonged  cheers.]  Somebody  committed  a  crime.  Either  those 
men  who  rose  in  rebellion  committed  the  greatest  crime  known  to  human  law, 
or  our  own  brave  soldiers,  who  went  out  to  fight  to  save  this  government, 
were  murderers.  Is  there  a  man  on  the  face  of  the  earth  who  dares  to  get 
up  and  say  that  our  brave  soldiers,  who  bared  their  breasts  to  the  bullets  of 
the  rebels,  were  anything  but  patriots?  [Cheers.] 

And  now,  after  twenty  years  —  after  an  absence  of  four  years  from  the 
Senate  —  I  go  back  and  take  my  seat,  and  what  do  I  find?  The  self  same 
pretensions  are  rung  in  my  ears  from  day  to  day.  I  might  close  my  eyes 
and  leave  my  ears  open  to  the  discussions  that  are  going  on  daily  in 
Congress,  and  believe  that  I  had  taken  a  Rip  Van  Winkle  sleep  of  twenty 
years.  [Applause.]  Twenty  years  ago  they  said  ;  "Do  this  or  we  will  shoot 
"  your  government  to  death  !  Fail  to  do  that  or  we  will  shoot  your  govern 
"mcnt  to  death  !  "  To  day  I  go  back  and  find  these  paroled  rebels,  who  have 
never  been  relieved  from  their  parole  of  honor  to  obey  the  laws,  saying  :  "  Do 
"  this  !  obey  our  will,  or  we  will  starve  your  government  to  death  !  Fail  to 
"  obey  our  will,  and  we  will  starve  your  government  to  death  !  "  Now,  if  I 
am  to  die,  I  would  rather  be  shot  dead  with  musketry  than  be  starved  to 
death.  [Laughter  and  applause.] 

These  rebels  —  for  they  are  just  as  rebellious  now  as  they  were  twenty 
•years  ago  —  there  is  not  a  particle  of  difference  —  these  rebels  to-day  have 
thirty -six  members  on  the  floor  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  without  one 
single  constituent,  and  in  violation  of  law  those  thirty -six  members  represent 
4,000,000  people,  lately  slaves,  who  are  as  absolutely  disfranchised  as  if  they 
lived  in  another  sphere,  through  shot-guns,  and  whips,  and  tissue  ballots  ;  for 
the  law  expressly  says,  wherever  a  race  or  class  is  disfranchised  they  shall  not 
be  represented  upon  the  floor  of  the  House.  [Applause.]  And  these  thirty -six 
members  thus  elected  constitute  three  times  the  whole  of  their  majority  upon 
the  floor  of  the  House.  Now,  my  fellow  -  citizens,  this  is  not  only  a  violation 
of  law,  but  it  is  an  outrage  upon  all  the  loyal  men  of  these  United  States. 
[Applause.]  It  ought  not  to  be.  It  must  not  be.  [Applause.]  And  it  shall 
not  be.  [Tremendous  cheers.] 

Twelve  members  of  the  Senate  —  and  that  is  more  than  their  whole 
majority  —  twelve  members  of  the  Senate  occupy  their  seats  upon  that  floor 
by  fraud  and  violence,  and  I  am  saying  no  more  to  you  in  Chicago  than  I 
said  to  those  rebel  generals  to  their  faces  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  [Enthusiastic  applause.]  Twelve  members  of  that  Senate 
were  thus  elected,  and  with  majorities  thus  obtained  by  fraud  and  violence 
in  both  houses,  they  dare  to  dictate  terms  to  the  loyal  men  of  these  United 
States.  [Applause.]  With  majorities  thus  obtained  they  dare  to  arraign  the 
loyal  men  of  this  country,  and  say  they  want  honest  elections.  [Laughter  and 
applause.]  They  are  mortally  afraid  of  bayonets  at  the  polls.  We  offered 
them  a  law  forbidding  any  man  to  come  within  two  miles  of  a  polling  place 


MR.    CHANDLER'S    LAST    SPEECH.  xiii. 

with  arms  of  any  description,  and  they  promptly  voted  it  down  [laughter  and 
applause],  for  they  wanted  their  Ku-Klux  there.  They  were  afraid,  not  of 
Ku  -  Klux  at  the  polls,  but  of  soldiers  at  the  polls.  Now,  in  all  the  States 
north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  and  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  there  is 
less  than  one  soldier  to  a  county.  [Laughter.]  There  is  about  two -thirds  of 
a  soldier  to  a  county.  [Laughter  and  applause.]  And,  of  course,  about  two- 
thirds  of  a  musket  to  a  county.  [Laughter.]  Now,  would  not  this  great 
county  of  Cook  tremble  if  you  saw  two  -  thirds  of  a  soldier  parading  himself 
up  and  down  in  front  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  [Loud  and  long -continued 
applause  and  laughter.]  But  they  are  afraid  to  have  inspectors.  What  arc  they 
afraid  to  have  inspectors  for  ?  The  law  creating  those  inspectors  is  imperative 
that  one  must  be  a  Democrat  and  the  other  a  Republican.  They  have  no  power 
whatever  except  to  certify  that  the  election  is  honest  and  fair.  And  yet  they 
are  afraid  of  those  inspectors,  and  then  they  are  afraid  of  marshals  at  the 
polls.  Now,  while  the  inspectors  cannot  arrest,  the  marshals  under  the  order 
of  the  court  can  arrest  criminals;  therefore,  they  said:  "We  will  have  no 
marshals."  What  they  want  is  not  free  elections,  but  free  frauds  at  elections. 
They  have  got  a  solid  South  by  fraud  and  violence.  Give  them  permission  to 
perpetrate  the  same  kind  of  fraud  and  violence  in  New  York  city  and  in  Cin 
cinnati  and  those  two  cities  with  a  solid  South  will  give  them  the  presidency  of 
the  United  States  ;  and  once  obtained  by  fraud  and  violence,  by  fraud  and 
violence  they  would  hold  it  for  a  generation.  To -day  eight  millions  of  people 
in  those  rebel  States  as  absolutely  control  all  the  legislation  of  this  govern 
ment  as  they  controlled  their  slaves  while  slavery  was  in  existence.  Through 
caucus  dictation  now  I  find  precisely  what  I  found  twenty  years  ago  when  I 
first  took  my  seat  in  Congress.  In  a  Democratic  Congress,  composed  of 
twenty -eight  Southern  Democrats  and  sixteen  Northern  Democrats,  they 
decreed  that  Stephen  A.  Douglas  of  Illinois  should  be  degraded  and  disgraced 
from  tlu  Committee  on  Territories,  and  there  were  but  just  two  Northern 
Democratic  senators  who  dared  even  to  enter  a  protest  against  the  outrage. 
To-day  there  are  thirty -t\vo  Southern  Democratic  senators  to  twelve  Northern, 
and  out  of  the  whole  twelve  there  is  not  a  man  who  dares  protest  against 
anything.  [Applause.]  I  say,  that  through  this  caucus  dictation,  these  eight 
millions  of  Southern  rebels  as  absolutely  control  the  legislation  of  this  nation 
as  they  controlled  their  slaves  when  slavery  existed. 

Now,  if  every  man  within  the  sound  of  my  voice  should  stand  up  in  this 
audience  and  hold  up  his  right  hand  and  swear  that  a  rebel  soldier  was  better 
than  a  Union  soldier,  I  would  not  believe  it.  [Laughter  and  applause.]  I 
would  hold  up  both  of  my  hands  and  swear  that  I  did  not  believe  it.  [Cheers.] 
And  yet,  to-day,  in  South  Carolina,  in  Alabama,  in  Louisiana,  in  Mississippi 
and  in  several  other  States  the  vote  of  a  rebel  soldier  counts  more  than  two 
of  the  votes  of  the  brave  soldiers  of  Illinois  ;  for  they  vote  for  the  ntirro  as 
well  a^  for  themselves,  and  their  vote  weighs  just  double  the  weight  of  that 
of  the  brave  soldier  in  Illinois.  It  is  an  outrage  upon  freedom,  an  outrage 
upon  the  gallant  soldiers  of  Illinois  and  Michigan.  [Applause.] 


xiv.  APPENDIX. 

Now,  my  fellow  -  citizens,  I  have  undertaken  to  show  you  the  condition 
in  which  the  country  was  placed  when  the  Republican  party  assumed  the  reins 
of  power.  When  the  Republican  party  took  the  reins  of  power,  the  country 
had  no  money,  no  credit,  no  arms,  no  ammunition,  no  navy,  no  material 
of  war.  When  the  Republican  party  took  the  reins  of  power  in  its  hands, 
there  was  no  nation  poor  enough  to  do  you  reverence.  You  were  the 
derision  of  the  nations  of  the  earth.  You  had  but  one  ally  and  friend  on 
earth,  and  that  was  little  Switzerland.  [Applause.]  Russia  sent  her  fleet 
to  winter  here  for  her  own  protection,  but  there  was  not  a  nation  on  God's 
earth,  that  did  not  hope  and  pray  that  your  republican  government  might  be 
overthrown,  and  there  was  no  nation  on  earth  poor  enough  to  do  you  rever 
ence.  We  fought  that  battle  through  ;  we  raised  the  nation's  dignity,  and  the 
nation's  honor,  the  national  power  and  the  national  strength,  until  now, 
to-day,  after  eighteen  years  of  Republican  rule,  there  is  no  nation  on  earth 
strong  enough  not  to  do  you  reverence.  [Loud  and  continued  applause.] 
We  took  your  national  credit  when  it  was  so  low  that  your  bonds  were 
selling  at  88  cents  on  the  dollar,  bearing  six  per  cent,  interest  and  no  takers, 
and  we  elevated  your  credit  up,  up,  up,  up,  up  until  to  -  day  your  four  per  cent, 
bonds  are  selling  at  a  premium  in  every  market  of  the  earth.  [Applause.]  So 
your  credit  stands  higher  than  the  credit  of  any  other  nation.  [  Applause.]  We 
saved  the  national  life  and  we  saved  the  national  honor,  and  yet,  notwith 
standing  all  this,  there  are  those  who  say  that  the  mission  of  the  Republican 
party  is  ended  and  that  it  ought  to  die.  If  there  ever  was  a  political  organi 
zation  that  existed  on  the  face  of  this  globe,  which,  so  far  as  a  future  state 
of  rewards  and  punishments  is  concerned,  is  prepared  to  die,  it  is  that  old 
Republican  party.  [Cheers.]  But  we  are  not  going  to  do  it.  [Laughter  and 
applause.]  We  havo  made  other  arrangements.  [Renewed  laughter  and 
cheers.] 

The  Republican  party  is  the  only  party  that  ever  existed,  so  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  ascertain  —  so  far  as  any  record  can  be  found,  either  in  sacred  or 
profane  history  —  it  is  the  only  party  that  ever  existed  on  earth  which  had 
not  one  single,  solitary,  unfulfilled  pledge  left  [cheers] — not  one  [renewed 
cheers]  ;  and  I  defy  tho  worst  enemy  the  Republican  party  ever  had  to  name 
one  single  pledge  it  gave  to  the  people  who  created  it  which  is  not  to  -  day  a 
fulfilled  and  an  established  fnct,  [Cheers.]  The  Republican  party  was  created 
with  one  idea,  and  that  was  to  preserve  our  vast  territories  from  the  blighting 
curse  of  slavery.  We  gave  that  pledge  at  our  birth,  that  we  wrould  save  those 
territories  from  the  withering  grasp  of  slavery,  and  we  saved  them.  [Voices. 
"Yes,  we  did."]  It  is  our  own  work.  We  did  it.  [Cheers.]  But  we  did 
more  than  that  ;  we  not  only  saved  your  vast  territories  from  the  blighting 
curse  of  slavery,  but  we  wiped  the  accursed  thing  from  the  continent  of  North 
America.  [Tremendous  cheering.]  We  pledged  ourselves  to  save  your  national 
life,  and  we  saved  your  national  life.  We  pledged  ourselves  to  save  your 
national  honor,  and  we  saved  your  national  honor.  [Applause.]  We  pledged 


MR.    CHANDLER'S    LAST    SPEECH. 


xv. 


ourselves  to  give  you  a  homestead  law,  and  we  gave  you  a  homestead  law. 
[Applause.]  We  pledged  ourselves  to  improve  your  rivers  and  your  harbors, 
and  we  improved  your  rivers  and  your  harbors.  [Applause.]  We  pledged 
ourselves  to  build  a  Pacific  railroad,  and  we  built  a  Pacific  railroad. 
[Applause.]  We  pledged  ourselves  to  give  you  a  college  land  bill,  and  we 
gave  it  to  you  ,  and,  not  to  weary  you,  the  last  pledge  ever  given  and  the 
last  to  be  fulfilled  was  that  the  very  moment  we  were  able  we  would  redeem 
the  obligations  of  this  great  government  in  the  coin  of  the  realm,  and  on  the 
first  day  of  January,  1879,  we  fulfilled  the  last  pledge  ever  given  by  the 
Republican  party.  [Cheers  and  long  -  continued  applause.] 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  you  say:  "Your  mission  is  ended  and  you 
ought  to  die."  [Laughter  and  applause.]  Well,  my  fellow  -  citizens,  if  we 
should  die  to  -  day,  or  to  -  morrow,  our  children's  children  to  the  twentieth 
generation  would  boast  that  their  ancestors  belonged  to  that  glorious  old 
Republican  party  [applause]  that  wiped  that  accursed  thing,  slavery,  from 
the  escutcheon  of  this  great  government.  [Cheers.]  And  they  would  have 
a  right  to  boast  throughout  all  generations. 

Senator  Ben.  Hill  of  Georgia  said,  in  my  presence,  that  he  was  an 
"ambassador"  from  the  sovereign  State  of  Georgia  [laughter]  to  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States.  Suppose  Ben.  Hill  should  be  caught  in  Africa  or  India, 
or  some  of  those  Eastern  nations,  and  should  get  into  a  little  difficulty,  do 
you  think  he  would  raise  the  great  flag  of  Georgia  over  his  head  [laughter] 
and  say:  "That  will  protect  me."  [Renewed  laughter  and  applause.]  My 
fellow  -  citizens,  you  may  take  the  biggest  ship  that  sails  the  ocean,  put  on 
board  of  her  the  flags  of  all  the  States  that  were  lately  in  the  rebellion  against 
this  government,  raise  to  her  peak  the  stars  and  bars  of  the  rebellion,  start  her 
with  all  her  bunting  floating  to  the  breeze,  sail  her  around  the  world,  and  you 
would  not  get  a  salute  of  one  pop -gun  from  any  fort  on  earth.  [Loud  and 
continued  laughter  and  applause.]  Take  the  smallest  ship  that  sails  the  ocean, 
mark  her  "  U.  S.  A."  —  United  States  of  America — raise  to  her  peak  the 
Stars  and  Stripes,  and  sail  her  around  the  world,  and  there  is  not  a  fort  or  a 
ship -of -war  of  any  nation  on  God's  footstool  that  would  not  receive  her  with 
a  national  salute.  [Cheers.]  And  yet  the  Republican  party  has  done  all  this. 
We  took  your  government  when  it  was  despised  among  the  nations,  and  we 
have  raised  it  to  this  high  point  of  honor  ;  and  yet  you  tell  us  we  ought  to 
die.  [Laughter  and  applause.] 

Suppose  there  was  a  manufacturing  concern  here  that  failed  about  the 
year  1857,  and  the  citizens  of  Chicago  thought  it  very  important  that  it  be 
reorganized  and  resume  business.  You  would  buy  the  property  for  fifty  cents 
on  the  dollar  and  reorganize  it  under  your  general  laws,  elect  officers,  and 
look  about  for  a  competent  man  to  manage  it.  Finally  you  find  what  you 
believe  to  be  the  very  man  for  that  business  and  put  him  in  possession.  He 
finds  that  the  machinery  is  not  up  to  the  progress  of  the  age,  and  goes  and 
buys  new.  He  brings  order  out  of  confusion  ,  he  manages  the  business  so 


xvi.  APPENDIX. 

that  the  stock  of  the  concern  rises  to  par ;  dividends  are  paid  semi  -  annually 
and  they  grow  larger  and  larger.  The  stock  rises  to  two  hundred,  and  none 
for  sale.  After  eighteen  years  of  successful  management  the  manager  comes 
in  with  his  account  -  current  and  his  check  for  the  half  -  yearly  dividend,  and 
lays  it  before  the  president  and  the  directors.  The  president  has  had  a  little 
conversation  with  his  directors,  and  says  : 

"This  statement  is  very  satisfactory,  but  we  have  concluded  that  after  the 
first  day  of  July  next  we  shall  not  require  your  services  any  longer." 

"Why,"  says  the  manager,   "what  have  I  done?" 

"  Nothing  that  is  not  praiseworthy.  We  will  give  you  a  certificate  that 
"we  think  you  have  managed  this  establishment  with  great  ability  and  great 
"  success.  We  will  certify  that  we  think  you  have  no  equal  in  the  city  of 
"  Chicago  or  State  of  Illinois.  Everything  you  have  done  is  praiseworthy,  and 
"  we  give  you  full  credit  for  it  ;  but  eighteen  years  ago  one  of  our  employes 
"  was  caught  stealing  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary.  He  has  now  served  his 
"time  out,  and  we  propose  to  put  him  in  your  place."  [Prolonged  laughter 
and  cheers.]  Wouldn't  you  say  that  the  president  and  all  of  the  directors 
should  be  put  into  a  lunatic  asylum  on  suspicion  at  once  ?  [  Applause  and 
laughter .] 

Now,  I  tell  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  mission  of  the  Republican  party  is 
not  ended.  [Cheers.]  I  tell  you,  furthermore,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  it  has  just 
begun.  [Cheers.]  I  tell  you,  furthermore,  that  it  will  never  end  until  you 
and  I  can  start  from  the  Canada  border,  travel  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  make 
black  Republican  speeches  wherever  wre  please  [applause],  vote  the  black 
Republican  ticket  wherever  we  gain  a  residence  [cheers],  and  do  it  with 
exactly  the  same  safety  that  a  rebel  can  travel  throughout  the  North,  stop 
wherever  he  has  a  mind  to,  and  run  for  judge  in  any  city  he  chooses. 

[This  hit  at  the  Democratic  candidate  for  judge  of  the  Cook  County 
Superior  Court,  who  was  a  rebel  soldier  during  the  war,  set  the  audience 
wild,  and  they  cheered  and  swung  their  hats  and  handkerchiefs  frantically.] 

I  hope  after  you  have  elected  »him  judge  he  won't  bring  you  in  a  bill  for 
loss  of  time.  [Laughter.] 

You  are  going  to  hold  an  election  next  Tuesday  which  is  of  importance 
far  beyond  the  borders  of  Chicago.  The  eyes  of  the  whole  nation  are  upon 
you.  By  your  verdict  next  Tuesday  you  are  to  send  forth  greeting  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  saying,  that  either  you  are  in  favor  of  honest 
men,  honest  money,  patriotism,  and  a  National  Government  [cheers],  or  that 
you  are  in  favor  of  soft  money,  repudiation,  and  rebel  rule.  [Cheers.]  It  is 
a  good  symptom,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  see  600  young  men  like  you  in  line, 
prepared  to  carry  the  flag  of  the  Republican  party  forward  to  victory. 
[Cheers.]  It  is  a  good  symptom  to  see  600  young  men  like  my  friend,  the 
chairman  here,  in  the  front  ranks,  ready  to  fight  the  battles  of  their  country 
now,  and  vote  as  they  shot  during  the  war.  [Cheers.] 

Now,  I  want  every  single  man  in  this  vast  audience  to  consider  himself  a 
committee  of  one  to  work  from  now  until  the  polls  close  on  Tuesday  next. 


MR.    CHANDLER'S    LAST    SPEECH.  xvii. 

[Cheers.]  Find  a  man  who  might  stay  away,  who  has  gone  away  and  might 
not  return  ;  secure  one  man  besides  yourself  to  go  to  the  polls  and  vote  the 
Republican  ticket  ;  and  if  you  cannot  find  such  a  man,  try  to  convert  a  sinner 
from  the  error  of  his  way.  [Applause]  You  have  got  too  much  at  stake  to 
risk  it  at  this  election.  The  times  are  too  good.  Iron  brings  too  much. 
Lumber  is  too  high.  Your  business  is  too  prosperous.  Your  manufactories 
are  making  too  much  money  for  you  to  afford  to  turn  this  great  govern 
ment  over  to  the  hands  of  repudiating  rebels.  You  cannot  do  it.  Shut  up 
your  stores.  Shut  up  your  manufactories.  Go  to  work  for  your  country,  and 
spend  two  days,  and  on  the  night  of  election,  Mr.  Chairman,  send  me  a  dis 
patch,  if  you  please,  that  Chicago  has  gone  overwhelmingly  Republican.  [  Loud 
cheers.] 


0 

THE  DORIC  PILLAR  OF  MICHIGAN. 


MEMORIAL  ADDRESS, 


DELIVERED  IN  THE  FORT  STREET   PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  DETROIT, 
MICH.,  THURSDAY  MORNING,  Nov.   27,  1879, 


THE    REV.   ARTHUR    T.    PIERSON,   D.  I). 


"There  were  giants  in  the  earth  in  those  days,"  is  the  simple  record  of 
the  age  before  the  flood. 

There  has  been  no  age  without  its  giants  ;  not,  perhaps,  in  the  narrow 
sense  of  great  physical  stature,  but  in  the  broader  sense  of  mental  might, 
capacity  to  command  and  control.  Such  men  are  but  few,  in  the  most  favored 
times,  and  it  takes  but  few  to  give  shape  to  human  history  and  .destiny.  Their 
words  shake  the  world  ;  their  deeds  move  and  mold  humanity  ;  and,  as 
Carlyle  has  suggested,  history  is  but  their  lengthened  shadows,  the  indefinite 
prolonging  of  their  influence  even  after  they  are  dead. 

One  of  these  giants  has  recently  fallen,  at  the  commanding  signal  of  One 
who  is  far  greater  than  any  of  the  sons  of  men,  and  at  whose  touch  kings 
drop  their  sceptre,  and,  like  the  meanest  of  their  slaves,  crumble  to  dust. 

This  giant  fell  among  us.  We  had  seen  him  as  he  grew  to  his  great 
stature  and  rose  to  his  throne  of  power.  He  moved  in  our  streets  ;  he  spoke 
in  our  halls  ;  in  our  city  of  the  living  was  his  earthly  home,  and  in  our  city  of 
the  dead  is  his  place  of  rest.  He  went  from  us  to  the  nation's  capital,  to 
represent  our  State  in  the  Senate  of  the  republic  ;  he  belonged  to  Michigan, 
and  Michigan  gave  him  to  the  Union  ;  but  he  never  forgot  the  home  of  his 
manhood.  Here  his  dearest  interests  clustered,  and  his  deepest  affections 
gathered  ;  and  here  his  most  loving  memorial  will  be  reared.  As  he  belonged 
peculiarly  to  this  congregation,  surely  it  is  our  privilege  to  weave  the  first 
wreath  to  garland  his  memory. 


THE    DORIC    PILLAR    OF    MICHIGAN/  xix. 

The  annual  Day  of  Thanksgiving  is  peculiarly  a  national  day,  since  it  is 
the  only  one  in  the  year  when  the  whole  nation  is  called  upon  hy  its  chief 
magistrate  to  give  thanks  as  a  united  people.  By  common  consent,  it  is 
admitted  proper  that,  on  that  day,  special  mention  be  made  of  matters  that 
affect  oar  civil  and  political  well-being.  There  is  therefore  an  eminent  fitness 
in  a  formal  commemoration  upon  this  day  of  the  life  and  labors  of  our 
departed  Senator  and  statesman. 

With  diffidence  I  attempt  the  task  that  falls  to  me.  The  time  is  too 
short  to  admit  even  a  brief  sketch  of  a  life  so  long  in  deeds,  so  eventful  in 
all  that  makes  material  for  biography  ;  a  life  full,  not  only  of  incidents,  but 
of  crises  ;  moreover,  I  am  neither  a  senator  nor  a  statesman,  and  feel  incom 
petent  to  review  a  c.ireer  which  only  the  keen  eye  of  one  versed  in  affairs  of 
state  can  apprehend  or  appreciate  in  its  full  significance  ;  but,  if  you  will 
indulge  me,  I  will,  without  conscious  partiality  or  partisanship,  calmly  give 
utterance  to  the  unspoken  verdict  of  the  common  people  as  to  our  departed 
fellow  -  citizen  ;  and  try  to  hint  at  least  a  few  of  the  lessons  of  a  life  that 
suggests  some  of  the  secrets  of  success. 

History  is  the  most  profitable  of  all  studies,  and  biography  is  the  key  of 
history.  In  the  lives  of  men,  philosophy  teaches  us  by  examples.  In  the 
analysis  of  character,  we  detect  the  essential  elements  of  success  and  discern 
the  causes  of  failure.  Virtue  and  vice  impress  us  most  in  concrete  forms  ; 
and  hence  even  the  best  of  all  books  enshrines  as  its  priceless  jewel  the 
story  of  the  only  perfect  life, 

To  draw  even  the  profile  cf  Mr.  Chandler's  public  career  the  proper  limits 
of  this  address  do  not  allow.  There  is  material,  in  the  twenty  years  of  his 
senatorial  life,  which  could  be  spread  through  volumes.  His  advocacy  of  the 
great  Northwest,  whose  champion  he  was  ;  his  master  -  influence,  first  as 
a  member,  and  then  as  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Commerce  ; 
his  bold,  keen  dissection  of  the  Harper's  Ferry  panic  ;  his  sagacious  organiza 
tion  of  the  presidential  contests ;  his  plain  declarations  of  loyalty  to  the 
Union  as  something  which  must  be  maintained  at  cost  both  of  treasure  and 
of  blood  ;  his  large  practical  faculty  for  administration,  made  so  conspicuous 
during  stormy  times  ;  his  efficiency  as  a  member  of  the  standing  Committee 
on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  ;  his  exposure  of  those  who  were  responsible  for 
its  failures,  and  his  defense  of  those  who  promoted  its  successes  ,  his  marked 
influence  in  changing  not  only  the  channel  of  public  sentiment,  but  the 
current  of  events  .  his  watchful  guardianship  of  popular  interests,  political 
and  financial  ;  his  intelligence  and  activity  in  senatorial  debates  ;  his  atten 
tive  and  persistent  study  of  the  problem  of  reconstruction  ;  and  his  fearless 
resistance  to  all  Southern  aggression  and  intimidation,  are  among  the  salient 
points  of  that  long  and  eventful  public  service,  whose  scope  is  too  wide  to 
allow  at  this  hour  even  a  hasty  survey. 

But,  happily,  it  is  quite  needless  that  in  such  a  presence  I  should  trace 
in  detail  the  events  of  his  life  ;  to  us  he  was  no  stranger  ,  and  the  mark  he 


xx.  APPENDIX. 

has  made  upon  our  memory  and  our  history  is  too  deep  not  to  last.  His  foot 
prints  are  not  leTt  upon  treacherous  and  shifting  quicksands  ;  and  no  wave  of 
oblivion  is  likely  soon  to  wash  them  away. 

Zachariah  Chandler  had  nearly  completed  his  sixty  -  sixth  year  ;  forty  -  six 
years  he  had  been  a  resident  of  the  City  of  the  Straits.  New  Hampshire  was 
the  State  of  his  nativity  :  Michigan  was,  in  an  emphatic  sense,  the  State  of 
his  adoption.  In  our  city  his  first  success  was  won  in  mercantile  pursuits, 
where  also  was  the  first  field  for  the  exhibition  of  his  energy,  ability  and 
integrity.  Here,  as  this  century  passed  its  meridian  hour,  he  passed  the  great 
turning-point  in  his  career;  and  his  large  capacities  and  energies  were 
diverted  into  a  political  channel.  First,  Mayor  of  the  city,  then  nominated 
for  Governor  ;  when,  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  a  successor  was  sought  for 
Lewis  Cass  in  the  Senate,  this  already  marked  man  became  the  first  repre 
sentative  of  the  Republican  party  of  this  State  in  that  august  body  at 
Washington.  There,  for  a  period  of  eighteen  years,  he  sat  among  the 
mightiest  men  of  the  nation,  steadily  moving  toward  the  acknowledged  leader 
ship  of  his  party,  and  the  inevitable  command  of  public  affairs  After  three 
terms  in  the  Senate,  his  seat  was  occupied  for  a  short  time  by  another  ;  but, 
upon  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Christiancy,  he  was,  with  no  little  enthusiasm, 
re  -  elected,  and  was  in  the  midst  of  a  fourth  term,  when  suddenly  he  was 
no  more  numbered  among  the  living.  It  may  be  doubled  whether,  at  this 
time,  any  one  man,  from  Maine  to  Mexico,  swayed  Che  popular  mind  and 
will  with  a  more  potent  sceptre  than  did  he  ;  and  many  confidently  believe 
and  affirm  that,  had  death  spared  him,  he  would  have  been  lifted  by  the 
omnipotent  voice  and  vote  of  the  people  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic. 

Mr.  Chandler  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  in  those  days  of  strife  when  the 
storm  was  gathering,  which,  on  the  memorable  12th  of  April,  1861,  burst 
upon  our  heads,  in  the  first  gun  fired  at  Fort  Sumter.  He  entered  the  Senate 
chamber,  to  take  the  oath  of  office,  in  company  with  some  whose  names  are 
now  either  famous  or  infamous  for  all  time.  On  the  one  hand,  there  was 
Jefferson  Davis  ;  on  the  other  Hannibal  Hamlin,  Charles  Sumner,  Benjamin 
F.  Wade  and  Simon  Cameron. 

Those  were  days  when  history  is  made  fast.  Every  day  throbbed  with 
big  issues.  Kansas  was  a  battle  -  ground  of  freedom ;  and  the  awful  struggle 
between  State  Sovereignty  and  National  Unity  was  gathering,  like  a  volcano, 
for  its  terrible  outbreak.  The  Republican  Senator  from  Michigan  took  in,  at 
a  glance,  the  situation  of  affairs.  Devoted  as  he  was  to  the  State,  whose  able 
advocate  and  zealous  friend  he  was  ;  earnest  and  persistent  as  he  was,  in  pro 
moting  the  commercial  and  industrial  interests  of  the  lake  region  ;  he  was  yet 
too  much  a  patriot  to  forget  the  whole  country  ;  and  as  the  great  conflict, 
which  Mr.  Seward  named  "irrepressible,"  moved  steadily  on  toward  its 
crisis,  he  armed  himself  for  the  encounter  and  planted  his  feet  upon  the  rock 
of  unalterable  allegiance  to  the  Union ;  and  from  that  position  he  never 
swerved. 


THE    DORIC    PILLAR    OF    MICHIGAN.  xxL 

Mr.  Chandler  was  a  zealous  party  -  man  ;  in  the  eyes  of  some  he  was  a 
partisan,  in  the  strenuous  advocacy  of  some  measures  ;  but  I  believe  that 
when  history  frames  her  ultimate,  impartial  verdict,  she  will  accord  to  him  a 
candid,  conscientious  adherence  to  what  he  believed  to  be  a  fundamental  prin 
ciple,  absolutely  essential  to  our  national  life.  He  saw  the  South  breathing 
hot  hate  toward  the  North,  planning  and  threatening  to  rend  the  Union 
asunder.  To  him  it  was  not  a  question  simply  of  liberty  and  slavery,  of 
sectional  prejudice,  of  political  animosity  ;  but  a  matter  of  life  or  of  death. 
He  saw  the  scimitar  of  secession  raised  in  the  gigantic  hand  of  Avar  —  but 
what  was  it  that  it  was  proposed  to  cleave  in  twain  at  one  blow  ?  A  living, 
vital  form  !  the  body  of  a  nation,  with  its  one  grand  framework,  its  common, 
brain  and  heart,  its  network  of  arteries  and  veins  and  nerves.  It  was  not 
dissection  as  of  a  corpse  —  it  was  vivisection  as  of  a  corpus  —  that  sharp  blade, 
if  it  fell,  would  cut  through  a  living  form.,  and  leave  two  quivering,  bleeding 
parts,  instead.  Divide  the  nation  ?  Why,  the  same  mountain  ranges  run 
down  our  eastern  and  western  shores  ;  the  same  great  rivers,  which  are  the 
arteries  of  our  commerce,  flow  through  both  sections.  Our  republic  is  a  unit 
by  the  decree  of  nature,  that  marked  our  nation's  area  and  arena  by  the  lines 
of  territorial  unity,  a  unit  by  the  decree  of  history  that  records  one  series  of 
common  experiences  ;  and,  aside  from  the  decree  of  nature  and  of  history,  it 
is  one  by  the  decree  of  necessity,  for  we  could  not  survive  the  separation. 
Those  were  the  decisive  days,  and  they  showed  whose  heart  was  yearning 
toward  the  child  ;  and  God  said,  as  he  saw  a  unanimous  North  pleading  with 
Him  to  arrest  the  falling  sword  and  spare  the  living  body  of  a  nation's  life  — 
"Give  her  the  child,  for  she  is  the  mother  thereof!" 

Mr.  Chandler  has  been  charged  with  violent  and  even  vindictive  feeling 
toward  what  he  deemed  disloyalty  and  treason. 

You  have  heard  the  story  of  the  Russians,  chased  by  a  hungry  pack  of 
wolves,  driving  at  the  height  of  speed  over  the  crisp  snow,  finding  the  beasts 
of  prey  gaining  fast  upon  them,  and  throwing  out  one  living  child  after 
another  to  appease  the  maw  of  wolfish  hunger,  while  the  rest  of  the  family 
hurried  on  toward  safety. 

There  are  sagacious  statesmen  that  have  declared,  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  that  Stat3  Rights  represents  the  pack  of  wolves  and  the  Sovereignty 
of  the  Union  the  imperilled  household.  For  scores  of  years,  the  encroach 
ments  of  the  South  became  more  and  more  imperious  and  alarming. 

Concession  after  concession  was  made,  offering  after  offering  flung  to  the 
sacrifice,  but  only  to  be  followed  by  a  hungrier  clamor  and  demand  for 
more;  and,  at  last,  even  men  of  peace  said,  "We  must  stop  right  here  and 
fight  these  wolves  ; "  and,  when  it  becomes  a  question  of  life  and  death,  men 
become  desperate. 

I  have  never  supposed  myself  to  be  a  strong  partisan.  As  a  man,  a  citi 
zen,  and  a  Christian,  I  have  sought  to  find  the  true  political  faith,  and,  finding 
it  to  hold  it,  firmly  and  fearlessly.  The  question  of  the  unity  of  our  nation 
27 


xxii.  APPENDIX. 

and  the  sovereignty  of  the  national  government  has  ever  seemed  to  me  to  be 
of  supreme  moment,  transcending  all  mere  political  or  party  issues  ;  and,  as  a 
patriot,  I  cannot  be  indifferent  to  it. 

When  the  long  struggle  between  State  Rights  and  National  Sovereignty 
grew  hot  and  broke  out  into  civil  war,  it  was  a  matter  of  tremendous  conse 
quence  that  the  Union  be  preserved.  History  stood  pointing,  with  solemn 
finger,  to  the  fate  of  the  republics  of  Greece  and  Switzerland,  reminding  us 
that  confederation  alone  will  not  suffice  to  keep  a  nation  alive.  Mexico,  at 
our  borders,  was  a  warning  against  dismemberment  or  the  loss  of  the  suprem 
acy  of  a  republican  unity.  And  men  of  all  parties  forgot  party  issues  in 
patriotic  devotion.  It  may  be  a  question  whether  State  Sovereignty,  however 
fatal  to  national  life,  deserved  the  hideous  name  of  treason,  before  the  war. 
But,  after  'the  matter  had  been  referred  to  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword,  and 
had  been  settled  at  such  cost  of  blood  and  treasure,  it  can  never  henceforth 
be  anything  but  treason,  again  to  raise  that  issue.  Hence,  even  men  that 
were  temperate  in  their  opposition  to  Southern  aggressions  before  the  war, 
now  are  impatient.  They  set  their  teeth  with  the  resolution  of  despair,  and 
say,  "We  make  no  further  effort  to  escape  this  issue,  and  we  throw  out  no 
"more  offerings  of  concession.  We  shall  tight  these  wolves  ;  and  either  State 
"  Rights  or  National  Sovereignty  shall  die." 

This  was  Mr.  Chandler's  position ;  if  it  was  a  mistaken  one,  it  is  the 
unspoken  verdict  of  millions  of  the  best  men  of  all  parties  in  the  whole  coun 
try  ;  and  every  new  concession  to  this  great  national  heresy  is  only  making 
new  converts  to  the  necessity  of  a  firm  and  fearless  resistance. 

Some  one  has  suggested  that  the  old  division  of  the  church  into  militant 
and  triumphant  is  no  longer  sufficient  ;  we  must  add  another,  namely,  the 
church  termagant  In  our  country  both  sections  were  militant,  and  one  was 
triumphant  ;  the  other  has  been  very  termagant  ever  since.  General  Grant,  at 
his  reception  in  Chicago,  declared  that  the  war  for  the  Union  had  put  the 
republic  on  a  new  footing  abroad.  A  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  by  political 
leaders  across  the  sea,  ' '  it  was  believed  we  had  no  nation.  It  was  merely 
"a  confederation  of  States,  tied  together  by  a  rope  of  sand,  and  would  give 
"  way  upon  the  slightest  friction.  They  have  found  it  was  a  grand  mistake. 
"They  know  we  have  now  a  nation,  that  we  are  a  nation  of  strong  and 
"intelligent  and  brave  people,  capable  of  judging  and  knowing  our  rights, 
"and  determined  on  all  occasions  to  maintain  them  against  either  domestic  or 
"  foreign  foes  ;  and  that  is  the  reception  you,  as  a  nation,  have  received 
"through  me  wrhile  I  was  abroad." 

On  the  same  day  we  have  a  significant  voice  from  the  South.  General 
Toombs,  in  response  to  a  suggestion  that  Governors  of  various  States  and 
prominent  Southern  men  should  unite  in  congratulations  to  the  ex -President 
on  his  return,  telegraphs  in  these  words:  "I  decline  to  answer  except  to 
"say,  I  present  my  personal  congratulations  to  General  Grant  on  his  safe 
"return  to  his  country.  He  fought  for  his  country  honorably  and  won.  1 


THE    DORIC    PILLAR    OF    MICHIGAN.  xxiii. 

"fought  for  mine  and  lost.  I  am  ready  to  try  it  over!  Death  to  the 
"  Union  ! " 

Here  we  have  simply  two  representative  utterances  ;  one  is  the  voice  of  a 
solid  North  ;  the  other  is,  we  fear,  the  voice  of  a  South  that  is  much  more 
"solid"  than  we  could  wish.  It  is  no  marvel  if,  after  a  war  of  so  many 
years,  that  cost  so  many  lives  and  so  much  money,  and  left  us  to  drag 
through  ten  years  of  a  financial  slough,  loyal  men  are  impatient  and  even 
angry,  when  they  discover  that  the  question  is  still  an  unsettled  one,  and  that 
we  have  not  even  conquered  a  peace  !  Even  the  interpretation  now  attached 
to  this  seditious  utterance  by  General  Toombs  himself,  that  "the  result  of 
"war  was  death  to  the  Union,  and  that  the  present  government  is  a  consoli- 
"  dated  one,  not  a  confederacy,"  docs  not  essentially  relieve  the  matter. 

Mr.  Chandler  could  not  brook  what  he  regarded  as  sentiments  rendered 
doubly  treasonable  by  the  fact  that  a  long,  bitter  but  successful  war  had 
burned  upon  them  with  a  hot  iron  the  brand  of  treason.  He  fought  those 
sentiments,  and  it  was  as  under  a  black  flag  that  announced  "no  quarter" 
But  this  does  not  prove  malicious  or  vindictive  feeling  toward  misguided  men 
who  hold  such  views.  There  is  a  difference  between  fighting  a  principle 
and  fighting  a  person.  In  fact  the  only  way  to  prevent  fighting  men  is  often 
a  vigorous  and  timely  opposition  to  their  measures.  And  if  we  wish  to 
avoid  another  war,  and  that  a  war  of  extermination,  the  ballot  must  obviate 
the  necessity  for  the  bullet  :  we  must  stand  together,  and  by  our  voice  and 
vote,  by  tongue  and  pen,  by  our  laws  and  our  acts,  in  the  use  of  every 
keen  weapon,  exterminate  the  heresy  of  State  Rights.  We  need  not  do  this 
in  hate  toward  the  South  :  a  true  love  even  for  the  South  demands  it,  for 
to  them  as  to  us  it  is  a  deadly  foe  to  all  true  prosperity  and  national 
existence.  How  can  a  man  who  candidly  looks  upon  the  present  attitude 
of  the  South  as  both  suicidal  and  nationally  destructive  be  calm  and  cool  ? 
The  philippics  of  Demosthenes  were  bitter,  but  they  were  the  mighty  beat 
ings  of  a  heart  that  pulsed  with  the  patriotism  that  could  not  see  liberty 
throttled  without  sounding  a  loud  and  indignant  alarm.  The  North  owes  a 
big  debt  to  every  man  who  at  this  crisis  will  not  suffer  an  imperilled 
republic  to  sleep. 

Mr.  Chandler  was  not  a  college  graduate.  His  early  training  was  got  in 
the  New  England  common  school  and  academy.  Yet  he  was  in  a  true  sense 
an  educated  man:  for  education  is  "not  a  dead  mass  of  accumulations,"  but 
self  -  development,  "power  to  work  with  the  brain,"  to  use  the  hand  in  cun 
ning  and  curious  industries,  to  use  the  tongue  in  attractive  and  effective 
speech,  to  use  the  pen  in  wise,  witty  or  weighty  paragraphs.  Somehow  he 
had  learned  to  hold,  with  a  master  hand,  the  reins  of  his  own  mind,  and 
make  his  imagination  and  reason  and  memory  and  powers  of  speech  obey  his 
b3hests.  That  is  no  common  acquirement  :  it  is  something  beyond  all  mere 
acquirement  ;  it  is  the  infallible  sign  and  seal  of  culture.  His  addresses,  even 
on  critical  occasions,  were  unwritten,  and,  in  some  cases,  could  not  have  been 


xxiv.  APPENDIX. 

elaborated,  even  in  the  mind  ;  yet  in  vigor  of  thought,  logical  continuity  and 
consistency,  accuracy  of  diction,  and  even  rhetorical  grace,  few  public  speakers 
equal  them. 

The  power  to  command  the  popular  ear  is  a  rare  power,  whether  it  be  a 
gift  of  nature  or  a  grace  of  culture.  With  Mr.  Chandler  it  was  held  and 
wielded  as  a  native  sceptre.  He  had  th:;  secret  of  rhetorical  adaptation  ;  he 
could  at  once  go  down  to  the  level  of  the  people  and  yet  lift  them  to  his 
level.  They  understood  what  he  said  and  knew  what  he  meant.  He  threw 
himself  into  their  modes  of  thought  and  habits  of  speech  ;  he  culled  his 
illustrations  mainly  from  common  life.  If  he  sacrificed  anything,  it  was 
rhetorical  elegance,  never  force  ;  his  one  aim  was  to  compel  conviction. 

The  simplicity  of  his  diction  was  a  prime  element  and  secret  of  his  power. 
He  did  not  speak  as  one  who  had  to  say  something,  but  as  one  who  had 
something  to  say,  and  whose  whole  aim  was  to  say  it  well  ;  with  clearness, 
plainness,  force  and  effect.  If  he  could  not  have  both  weight  and  lustre,  he 
would  have  weight. 

Walter  Scott  has  exposed  the  absurdity  of  "writing  down"  to  children, 
and  shown  that  it  is  really  writing  up,  to  make  oneself  so  simple  as  to  be 
plain  even  to  the  child  -  mind.  Simplicity  is  the  highest  art.  To  have  thought 
faintly  gloom  and  glimmer  through  obscure  language,  like  stars  through  a 
haze  or  mist,  may  serve  to  impress  the  ignorant  with  a  supposed  profundity 
in  the  speaker ;  but  it  is  no  more  a  sign  of  such  profundity  than  muddy 
water  signifies  depth  in  a  stream  ;  it  may  suggest  depth  because  you  can  see 
no  bottom,  but  it  means  shallowness  !  It  is  a  lesson  that  all  of  us  may  learn 
through  the  life  of  our  departed  Senator,  that  the  first  element  of  good  speak 
ing  is  thought  ;  and  the  second  a  form  of  words  fitting  the  thought,  which, 
like  true  dress,  shall  not  call  attention  to  itself  but  to  the  idea  or  conception 
which  it  clothes.  Any  man  who  is  long  to  hold  the  ear  of  the  people  must 
give  them  facts  and  thoughts  worth  knowing  and  thinking  of,  in  words  which 
it  will  not  take  a  walking  dictionary  or  living  encyclopaedia  to  interpret,  or  a 
philosopher  to  untangle  from  the  skein  of  their  confusion. 

Mr.  Chandler  was  such  a  man,  a  man  for  the  people.  Free  from  all 
stately  airs  and  stilted  dignities,  he  took  hold  of  every  political  and  national 
question  with  ungloved  hands.  He  understood  and  used  the  language  of  home 
life,  which  is  the  "  universal  dialect "  of  power.  His  speeches  were  packed 
with  vigorous  Saxon.  He  thought  more  of  the  short  sword,  with  its  sharp 
edge  and  keen  point  and  close  thrust,  than  of  the  scholar's  labored  latinity, 
with  its  longer  blade,  even  though  it  might  also  have  a  diamond  -  decked  hilt; 
and  in  this,  as  in  not  a  few  other  conspicuous  traits,  he  was  master  of  the 
best  secrets  that  gave  the  great  Irish  agitator,  O'Connell,  his  strange  power 
of  moving  the  multitude.  His  last  speech,  even  when  read,  and  without 
the  magnetism  of  his  personal  presence,  may  well  stand  as  the  last  of  his 
utterances. 

The  simplicity  of  Mr.  Chandler's  style  of  oratory  amounted  to  ruggedness, 
in  the  sense  in  which  we  apply  that  word  to  the  naked  naturalness  of  a  land 


THE   DORIC    PILLAR    OF    MICHIGAN, 


XXV. 


scape,  whose  features  have  not  been  too  much  modified  by  art.  There  is  in 
oratory  an  excessive  polish,  which  suggests  coldness  and  deadness.  Some 
speakers  sharpen  the  blade  until  there  is  no  blade  left ,  the  mistaken  careful 
ness  of  their  culture  brings  everything  to  one  dead  level  of  faultlessness  ; 
there  is  nothing  to  offend,  and  nothing  to  rouse  and  move.  Demosthenes 
said  that  kinesis  —  not  "action,"  but  motion,  or  rather  that  which  moves  —  is 
the  first,  second,  third  requisite  of  true  oratory.  He  is  no  true  speaker  who 
simply  pleases  you  :  he  must  stir  you  to  new  thought,  new  choice,  new 
action. 

We  must  beware  of  the  polish  that  is  a  loss  of  power,  and,  like  a  lap- 
dary,  not  grind  off  points,  but  grind  into  points.  Demosthenes  was  more 
rugged  than  Cicero  ;  but  he  pricked  men  more  with  the  point  of  his  oratori 
cal  goad  Men  heard  the  silver-tongued  Roman  and  said,  "How  pleasantly 
he  speaks'"  They  heard  the  bold  Athenian  and  shouted,  "Let  us  go  and 
fight  Philip  ! " 

Carlyle  says,  "He  is  God's  anointed  king  whose  simple  word  can  melt  a 
million  wills  into  his  ! "  That  melting  wills  into  his  own  is  the  test  of 
eloquence  in  the  orator  ;  and  a  rugged  simplicity  has  held  men  in  the  very 
fire  of  the  orator's  ardor  and  fervor,  till  they  were  at  white  heat,  and  could  be 
shaped  at  will ;  while  the  most  scholarly  display  of  culture  often  leaves  them 
unmoved,  to  gape  and  stare  with  wonder,  as  before  the  splendors  of  the 
Aurora  Borealis,  and  feel  as  little  real  warmth.  Emerson  is  right:  "There  is 
no  true  eloquence  unless  there  is  a  man  behind  the  speech,"  and  men  care  not 
what  the  speech  is  if  the  man  be  not  behind  it,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  what 
the  speech  is,  if  the  m:in  be  behind  it  !  And  so  it  is  that  Richard  Cobden 
compelled  even  Robert  Peel,  who  loved  'truth  and  candor,  to  become  a 
convert  to  his  free -trade  opinions  ;  and  so  it  was  that  John  Bright,  another 
model  of  a  simple  utterance  with  a  sincere  man  behind  it,  swayed  such  a 
mighty  sceptre  over  the  people  of  Britain.  The  mere  declaimer  or  demagogue 
may  win  a  temporary  hearing  ;  but  the  man  who  leaves  a  lasting  impress  on 
the  mind  of  the  people  must  have  in  himself  some  real  worth. 

To  Mr.  Chandler's  executive  ability  reference  has  been  made.  It  was 
never  better  illustrated  than  in  his  vigorous  and  faithful  administration  as 
Secretary  of  the  Interior.  It  was  Hercules  in  the  Augean  stables  again  — 
purging  the  department  of  incompetency  and  dishonesty.  He  sent  a  flood 
through  the  Patent  Office,  that  swept  all  the  clerks  out  of  one  room  ; 
and  another  through  the  Indian  Bureau,  that  cleaned  out  its  abuses  and 
exposed  its  frauds.  It  is  said  that  the  reconstruction  of  that  department 
saved  millions  annually  to  the  treasury  of  the  nation.  Mr.  Schurz,  in  becom 
ing  his  successor,  paid  a  very  handsome  tribute  to  the  retiring  Secretary, 
acknowledging  the  great  debt  of  the  counlry  to  Mr.  Chandler's  energy  and 
fidelity,  and  modestly  declaring  that  he  could  hope  for  no  higher  success  than 
to  keep  and  leave  the  department  where  he  found  it. 

If  there  be  any  one  thing  for  which  the  Senator  from  Michigan  stood 
above  most  men  it  was  in  this  practical  business  ability.  He  had,  in  rare 


xxvi.  APPENDIX. 

union,  "talent"  and  "tact."  His  good  sense,  clear  views,  ready  and  retentive 
memory,  prompt  decision,  patience  and  perseverance,  quick  discernment  and 
instinctive  perception  of  the  fitness  of  ways  to  ends,  qualified  him  for  ener 
getic  and  successful  administration  anywhere.  Webster  said,  "There  is  always 
room  at  the  top."  Even  the  pyramid  waits  for  the  capstone,  which  must  be, 
itself,  a  little  pyramid.  And  he  who  has  inborn  or  inbred  fitness  for  the  top 
place  will  find  his  way  there  ;  no  other  will  long  stay  there,  even  if  some 
accident  lifts  him  to  the  nominal  occupancy  of  such  a  position. 

He  had  rare  tact,  that  indefinable  quality  of  which  Ross  says,  that  "it  is 
the  most  exquisite  thing  in  man."  Literally  it  means  "touch,"  and  is  sug 
gested  by  the  delicacy  often  found  in  that  mysterious  sense.  It  describes, 
though  it  cannot  define,  the  nice,  skillful,  innate  discernment  and  discrimina 
tion  which  tells  one  what  to  say  and  do,  even  on  critical  occasions  ;  how  to 
reach  and  "touch"  men,  when  a  blunder  would  be  fatal.  This  wisdom  of 
instinct  may  be  cultivated  but  cannot  be  acquired  ;  and  it  seems  to  be  close 
of  kin  with  that  common  sense  which,  though  by  no  means  exceedingly 
"common,"  represents  a  sound  intuitive  sense  in  common  matters,  such  as 
would  be  the  common  senso  or  verdict  of  wise  and  sagacious  minds. 

The  Senator  impressed  men  as  one  whose  powers  were  varied  and  versa 
tile.  Thomas  F.  Marshall,  the  "  Kentucky  orator/'  maintained  that  fine 
speaking,  writing  and  conversation  depend  on  a  different  order  of  gifts.  "A 
"speech  cannot  be  reported,  nor  an  essay  spoken.  Fox  wrote  speeches; 
"nobody  reads  them.  Sir  James  Mackintosh  spoke  essays;  nobody  listened. 
"Yet  England  crowded  to  hear  Fox,  and  reads  Mackintosh.  Lord  Bolingbroke 
"excelled  in  all,  the  ablest  orator,  finest  writer,  most  elegant  drawing-room 
"gentleman  in  England." 

Whether  or  not  this  philosophy  be  sound  and  this  estimate  correct,  we 
shall  all  agree  that  few  men  combine  power  of  speech  with  force  in  composition 
and  grace  in  conversation.  Our  departed  Senator  certainly  had  more  than  the 
common  share  of  versatility.  That  last  speech  at  Chicago  thrilled  a  vast 
audience  when  spoken,  and  kindled  a  flaming  enthusiasm  ;  yet  it  reads  like 
the  compact  and  complete  sentences  of  the  essayist. 

Versatility,  however,  is  not  to  be  coveted  where  it  implies  a  lack  of  con 
centration.  An  anonymous  writer  has  left  us  a  very  discriminating  comparison 
of  two  great  British  statesmen.  He  likens  Canning's  mind  to  a  convex  specu 
lum  which  scattered  its  rays  of  light  upon  all  objects  ;  while  he  likens 
Brougham's  to  a  concave  speculum  which  concentrated  the  rays  upon  one 
central,  burning,  focal  point.  There  are  some  men  who  possess,  to  a  consider 
able  degree,  both  the  power  to  scatter  and  the  power  to  gather  the  rays.  At 
times  they  exhibit  varied  and  versatile  ability,  they  touch  delicately  and  skill 
fully  many  different  themes  or  departments  of  thought  and  action  ;  but  when 
crises  arise  which  demand  the  whole  man,  they  become  in  the  best  sense  men 
of  one  idea,  for  one  thought  fills  and  fires  the  soul  ;  every  power  is  concen 
trated  in  one  burning  purpose. 


THE    DORIC    PILLAR    OF    MICHIGAN.  xxvii. 

The  Senator,  whose  deserved  garland  we  are  weaving,  was  one  of  these 
men.  There  were  times  when  he  seemed  to  turn  his  hand  with  equal  ease  to 
a  score  of  employments  ;  now  giving  wise  counsel  in  gr/ivest  matters,  now 
playfully  entertaining  guests  at  his  table  ;  now  studying  the  deep  philosophy  of 
political  economy,  now  holding  a  Senate  in  rapt  attention  ;  now  reorganizing 
a  department  of  state  ;  now  pushing  a  new  measure  through  Congress  ;  now 
closeted  with  the  President  over  the  issues  of  a  colossal  campaign,  and  again 
conducting  a  pleasure  excursion ;  to  -  day  leading  on  the  hosts  of  a  great 
party,  and  to-morrow  managing  the  affairs  of  an  extensive  farm.  But,  when 
the  destiny  of  the  nation  hung  in  the  balance,  or  history  waited  with  uplifted 
pen  to  record  on  her  eternal  scroll  the  final  decision  of  some  great  question, 
he  gathered  and  condensed  into  absolute  unity  all  the  powers  of  mind  and 
heart  and  will,  and  flung  the  combined  weight  of  his  whole  manhood  into  the 
trembling  scale.  When  he  felt  that  a  thing  must  be,  a  mountain  was  no 
obstacle  to  surmount,  a  host  of  foes  no  occasion  for  dismay.  With  intensity 
of  conviction,  with  contagious  courage  and  enthusiasm,  with  indomitable 
resolution,  with  tireless  energy  of  action,  he  went  ahead,  and  weaker  men  had 
to  follow  ;  his  conviction  persuaded  the  hesitating,  his  courage  emboldened 
the  timid,  his  determination  inspired  the  irresolute.  He  was  the  unit  that,  in 
the  leading  place,  makes  even  the  cyphers  swell  the  sum  of  power. 

It  is  no  slight  praise  of  Mr.  Chandler  to  say  that  he  was  a  man  of 
industry  ;  the  results  he  reached  were  won  by  work.  There  is  a  great  deal 
of  blind  talk  about  genius.  That  there  is  such  a  thing,  apart  from  the  prac 
tical  faculty  of  application,  even  great  men  have  doubted  or  boldly  denied  ; 
but  certain  it  is  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  genius  of  industry,  and  that 
rules  the  world  !  Alexander  Hamilton  disclaimed  any  other  genius  than  the 
profound  study  of  a  subject.  He  kept  before  him  a  theme  which  he  meant  to 
master,  till  he  explored  it  in  all  its  bearings  and  his  mind  was  filled  with  it. 
Then,  to  quote  his  words,  "the  effort  which  I  make  the  people  are  pleased 
to  call  the  fruit  of  genius.  It  is  the  fruit  of  labor  and  thought." 

And  so  for  us  all  there  is  no  royal  road  to  a  true  success.  We  must 
simply  plod  on,  along  the  plain,  hard,  plebeian  path  of  honest  toil,  and  climb 
up  the  lulls,  if  we  would  get  on  and  up  at  all.  Spinoza  grandly  says  that 
that  there  is  no  foe  or  barrier  to  progress  like  "self -conceit  and  the  laziness 
which  self  -  conceit  begets. "  We  venture  to  add  that  no  conceit  is  surer  to 
beo-et  laziness  than  the  conceit  of  "conscious  genius."  Our  peril  is  to  learn 
to  do  our  work  easily  ;  that  means  poor  work,  if  indeed  any  work  at  all, 
shallow  acquirements,  superficial  attainments,  and  no  real  scholarly  or  heroic 
achievements. 

Our  regretted  Senator  did  not  despise  honest  work,  and  never  claimed  to 
be  a  genius,  Pie  had  a  hearty  contempt  for  all  that  aristocracy  of  intellect 
that  frowns  on  mental  toil. 

He  spoke  without  manuscript,  and  without  memorizing  ;  or,  as  we  say, 
'extempore."  That  H  another  much -abused  word.  Extemporaneous  speech 


xxviii.  APPENDIX. 

is  not  the  utterance  of  words  that  shake  the  world,  or  any  considerable  part 
of  it,  unless  such  speech  be  the  fruit  not  of  that  time,  but,  as  Dr.  Shedd 
says,  "of  all  time  previous."  But  when  the  orator  first  becomes  master  of 
his  theme  and  then  of  the  occasion,  and  is  thus  fitted  to  deal  with  the  rea 
vital  issues  before  the  people,  he  may,  without  having  put  pen  to  paper,  o, 
having  framed  a  single  sentence  beforehand,  often  find  himself  master  also 
of  his  audience,  The  careful  study  of  his  subject,  the  habit  of  thinking  in 
words,  and  of  weighing  words  when  he  reads  and  talks,  scoops  out  a  channel 
in  the  mind  ;  and  when  he  rises  to  speak  he  finds  his  thought  flowing  natur 
ally  and  easily  in  this  channel. 

No  man  can  carefully  read  Mr.  Chandler's  public  utterances  without 
detecting  a  brevity  and  terseness,  a  simplicity  and  plainness,  an  accuracy  and 
vigor,  and  often  a  rhetorical  beauty,  which  shew  care  in  preparation.  These 
qualities  are  not  the  offspring  of  indolence.  Years  of  drill  lie  back  of  the 
exact  and  daring  touches  with  which  the  artist  makes  the  canvas  speak  and 
the  marble  breathe  ;  and  the  extempore  speech  of  the  eloquent  orator  tells  of 
locg,  hard  discipline  that  has  taught  him  how  to  think  and  how  to  talk  ;  it 
may  have  taken  him  fifty  years  to  learn  how  to  hold  and  sway  an  audience 
at  will  for  fifty  minutes.  The  ease  and  grace  of  true  oratory  are  the  signs  of 
previous  exertion  ;  of  that  systematic  exercise  of  the  intellect  that  has  sug 
gested  for  our  training  schools  the  name,  gymnasia.  The  laws  of  brain  and 
of  brawn  do  not  differ  much  in  this  respect.  Men  are  not  born  athletes, 
either  in  mind  or  muscle  ;  and  to  all  who  have  a  true  desire  to  succeed,  in 
any  sphere  of  life,  the  one  voice  that,  with  the  growing  emphasis  of  the 
successive  centuries,  speiks  to  us,  is,  "Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do 
it  with  thy  might."  Your  sword  may  be  short;  "add  a  step  to  it!"  it  may 
be  dull ;  add  force  to  the  blow  or  the  thrust.  There  is  no  encouragement 
from  history,  more  universally  to  be  appropriated  by  us,  than  the  testimony 
she  furnishes  to  the  power  and  value  of  honest  endeavor.  To  will  and  to 
work  is  to  win.  The  highest  endowments  assure  no  achievements  ;  all  success 
is  the  crown  of  patient  toil  ! 

While  thus  speaking  a  word  in  favor  of  hard  work,  one  word  of  caution 
and  of  qualification  may  not  be  out  of  place.  I  think  God  means  that  the 
sudden  decease  of  public  men  when  in  life's  prime,  shall  not  be  without 
warning.  No  thoughtful  man  fails  to  feel  the  force  of  this  fact  that  somehow 
the  average  duration  of  human  life,  especially  on  these  shores  and  among 
men  of  mark,  is  shortening  ;  and  that  apoplexy,  paralysis,  angina  pectoris, 
cerebral  hemorrhage,  and  softening  of  the  brain  are  amazingly  common  among 
brain -workers.  The  fatality  among  journalists  is  especially  startling. 

We  are  a  fast -living  and  a  fast -dying  people.      Our  habits  are  bad.      We  ' 
work  hard  half  the  time  and  worry  the  other  half.     We  eat  and  sleep   irregu 
larly  ;    we  tax  our  powers  unduly,  keeping  the  bow  bent  until  the  string  snaps 
simply  from   constant   tension,  lack   of  relaxation.     We   turn   night   into   day, 
without  restoring  the  balance  by  turning  day  into  night.     We  live  in  an  atmos 


THE    DORIC    PILLAR    OF    MICHIGAN.  xxix. 

phere  of  excitement.,  and  push  on  to  the  verge  of  death  before  we  know  our 
peril  or  r.aiize  our  risk.  We  are  tempted  to  put  stimulus  in  -the  place  of 
strength,  that  we  may  do,  under  unnatural  pressure,  what  we  cannot  do  by 
nature's  healthy  powers.  Instead  of  repairing  the  engine,  we  crowd  fuel  into 
the  boiler  and  get  up  more  steam  ;  and,  by  and  by,  something  breaks,  or 
bursts,  and  the  machinery  is  a  wreck. 

I  believe  it  is  not  hard  work  that  kills  us,  so  much  as  work  under  wrong 
conditions.  To  do,  with  the  aid  of  even  mild  stimulants,  like  tea  and  coffee, 
not  to  say  tobacco,  opium,  quinine,  etc.,  what  we  cannot  do  by  the  natural 
strength,  is  the  worst  kind  of  overwork  ;  and  yet  our  public  men  are  subject 
to  such  strain,  that  they  are  almost  driven  to  such  resorts.  Where  they  ouuht 
to  stop,  and  sleep  and  rest,  they  "key  up"  with  a  kind  of  artificial 
strength,  and  get  the  habit  of  unnatural  wakefulness  ;  and  then  wonder  why 
they  are  victims  of  insomnia. 

Professor  Tyndall,  one  of  the  most  tireless  men  of  brain  in  our  day,  says 
to  the  students  of  University  College,  London:  ''Take  care  of  your  health! 
"  Imagine  Hercules,  as  oarsman  in  a  rotten  boat  ;  what  can  he  do  there  but, 
"by  the  very  force  of  his  stroke,  expedite  the  ruin  of  his  craft!  Take  care 
"of  the  timbers  of  your  boat  !"  And  Dr.  Beard  adds  :  "  To  work  hard  with- 
"  out  overworking,  to  work  without  worrying,  to  do  just  enough  without 
"  doing  too  much  -  these  are  the  great  problems  of  our  future.  Our  earlier 
"Franklin  taught  us  to  combine  industry  with  economy;  our  'later  Frank- 
"lin'  taught  us  to  combine  industry  with  temperance;  our  future  Franklin 
"  —  if  one  should  arise  —  must  teach  us  how  to  combine  industry  with  the  art 
"  of  taking  it  easy." 

The  qualities  that  fitted  Mr.  Chandler  for  the  conduct  of  affairs  were, 
however,  not  purely  intellectual ;  they  belonged  in  part  to  another  and  a 
higher  order,  viz. :  the  emotions  and  affections. 

He  had  great  intensity  of  nature.  Even  his  political  opponents  could  not 
doubt  the  positiveness  of  his  conviction  and  the  profoundness  of  his  sincerity  ; 
and  here,  as  Carlyle  justly  says,  must  be  found  the  base  blocks  in  the  struct 
ure  of  all  heroic  character.  It  is  no  small  thing  to  be  able  to  command  even 
from  an  antagonist  the  concession  and  confession  of  one's  sincerity.  Candor 
atones  for  a  host  of  faults.  Men  will,  at  the  last,  forgive  anything  else  in  a 
man  who  tries  to  be  true  to  his  own  convictions  and  to  their  interests.  The 
utterances  of  impulse  and  even  of  passion,  stinging  sarcasm  and  biting  ridicule, 
unjust  charges  and  assaults,  all  are  easy  to  p:irdon  in  one  whose  sincerity  and 
intensity  of  conviction  betray  him  into  too  great  heat  ;  men  would  rather  be 
scorched  or  singed  a  little  in  the  burning  flame  of  a  passionate  earnestness 
than  freeze  in  the  atmosphere  of  a  human  iceberg — beneath  whose  rhetorical 
brilliance  they  feel  the  chill  of  a  cold,  calculating  insincerity  and  hypocrisy 
that  upsets  their  faith  in  human  honesty. 

He  was  also  peculiarly  independent  and  intrepid.  The  determination  to 
be  loyal,  both  to  his  convictions  and  to  his  country,  inspired  him  to  a  bold, 


xxx.  APPENDIX. 

brave  utterance  and  invested  him  with  a  courage  and  confidence  that  were 
almost  contagious.  We  cannot  but  admire  the  political  fidelity  expressed  by 
Burke,  in  his  famous  defense  before  the  electors  of  Bristol,  when  he  said  :  "I 
"obeyed  the  instructions  of  nature  and  reason  and  conscience  ;  I  maintained 
"your  interests,  as  against  your  convictions."  Few  men  have  ever  dared  to 
say  and  do  what  Mr.  Chandler  has,  in  the  face  of  such  political  risks  and 
even  such  personal  peril.  One  brief  address  delivered  by  him  in  the  Senate, 
soon  after  he  resumed  his  seat,  will  stand  among  the  classics  of  our  language, 
and,  if  I  may  so  say,  among  the  "heroics"  of  our  history. 

lie  was  also  a  man  of  great  political  integrity.  In  the  long  career  of  a 
public  life  spanning  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  no  suspicion  of  dis 
honesty  or  disloyalty  has  ever  stained  his  character  or  reputation.  Michigan 
may  safely  challenge  any  Senatorial  record  of  twenty  years  to  surpass  his, 
either  in  the  quantity  or  quality  of  public  service. 

Those  who  knew  him  best  affirm  that  he  was,  politically  and  personally, 
an  incorruptible  man.  The  position  of  a  legislator  is  one  of  proverbial  peril. 
From  the  days  of  Pericles  and  Augustus  till  now,  the  men  who  make  laws 
and  guide  national  affairs  are  peculiarly  in  danger  of  defiling  their  consciences 
by  "fear  or  favor."  Bribery  sits  in  the  vestibule  of  every  law-making  assem 
bly.  Greed  holds  out  golden  opportunity  for  getting  enormous  profits  from 
unlawful  or  questionable  schemes  and  investments.  Ambition  lifts  her  shining 
crown,  and  offers  a  throne  of  commanding  influence  if  you  will  bow  down 
and  worship,  or  even  make  some  slight  concession  in  favor  of,  the  devil. 
Only  a  little  elasticity  of  conscience,  a  little  blunting  of  the  moral  sense  ;  a 
little  falsehood,  or  perjury,  or  treachery,  under  polite  names  ;  a  lending  of 
one's  name  to  doubtful  schemes  ;  and  there  is  a  rich  reward  in  gains  to  the 
purse  and  gratifications  to  the  pride,  which  more  than  pay  for  the  trifling 
loss  of  self-respect.  And  so  not  a  few  who  go  to  Congress  with  unsullied 
reputation,  come  back  smutched  with  their  participation  in  "Credit  Mobilier" 
and  "Pacific  Railroad"  schemes,  or  any  one  of  the  thousand  forms  of  fraud. 

So  far  as  I  know,  Mr.  Chandler  has  never  been  charged  with  complicity 
as  to  dishonest  and  disgraceful  measures  such  as  have  sometimes  made  the 
very  atmosphere  of  the  Capitol  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of  the  pure  and  good. 
His  name  does  not  stand  on  the  pay-roU  of  Satan,  but  with  the  honored  few 
whose  eyes  have  never  been  blinded  by  a  bribe  and  whose  record  has  never 
been  blotted  with  political  dishonor. 

To  have  simply  done  one's  duty  is  no  mean  victory.  To  stand — like  the 
anvil  beneath  the  blows  of  the  hammer  —  and  firmly  resist  the  force  of  a 
repeated  temptation  is  grand  and  heroic.  To  be  venal  is  no  venial  fault  ;  no 
price  which  can  be  weighed  in  gold  can  pay  a  man  for  the  sale  of  one  ounce 
of  his  manliness.  Conscience  is  a  Samson,  whose  locks  are  easily  shorn,  but 
they  never  grow  again  ;  whose  eyes,  once  put  out  or  seared  with  a  hot  iron, 
no  prayer  will  restore.  And  men,  as  great  and  wise  as  Bacon,  have  like  him 
been  compelled  to  confess  to  their  own  meanness  and  the  mercenary  character 
of  their  virtue. 


THE    DORIC    PILLAR    OF    MICHIGAN.  xxxi. 

One  of  the  worst  signs  of  the  times  is  this  corruptibility  of  popular 
leaders.  One  of  the  greatest  of  European  journals  moves  like  a  weather- 
vane,  just  as  the  day's  wind  blows.  Much  of  the  best  talent  of  Europe  is  for 
sale  for  or  against  despotism.  Some  of  the  most  gifted  men  in  the  House  of 
Lords  are  of  plebeian  birth,  bought  by  the  bribe  of  a  title,  as  Harry 
Brougham  himself  was,  when  his  great  influence  became  a  terror  to  the  aris 
tocracy  ;  and  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  is  said  to  have  bought  one  -  third  of  the 
House  of  Commons.  There  is  scarce  a  measure,  however  infamous,  that  may 
not  be  pushed  through  our  common  councils  and  legislative  bodies  if  the 
lobbyists  are  only  "influential  and  numerous,"  and  the  money  is  only  plenty 
enough.  Let  us  give  God  thanks  for  every  man  in  the  community  who  is 
not  on  the  auction  block  to  be  knocked  down  to  the  highest  bidder.  In  these 
days  of  abounding  fraud  and  falsehood,  men  are  beginning  to  feel  the  value 
of  simple  honesty.  We  have,  in  our  admiration  of  the  genius  of  intellect, 
forgotten  the  genius  of  goodness,  which  has  power  to  inspire  men  with  hero 
ism.  Better  to  strengthen  a  few  timid  hearts  in  loyalty  to  principle  than  to 
have  deserved  the  encomium  of  Augustus,  who  "found  Rome  brick,  and  left 
it  marble."  The  Earl  of  Chatham  refused  to  keep  a  million  pounds  of  gov 
ernment  funds  in  the  bank  and  pocket  the  proceeds  ;  as  Edmund  Burke,  on 
becoming  paymaster  -  general,  first  of  all  introduced  a  bill  for  the  reorganiza 
tion  of  that  department  of  public  service,  refusing  to  enrich  himself,  through 
the  emoluments  of  that  lucrative  office,  at  public  expense. 

No  wonder  George  the  Second  should  have  said  of  such  "honesty"  that 
it  is  an  "honor  to  human  nature!"  Such  words  were  worthy  of  a  king,  but 
it  is  only  a  crowned  head  bowing  to  royal  natures  that  need  no  crown  to  tell 
that  they  are  kingly.  The  distinguished  Hungarian  exile  will  never  be  for 
given  for  saying  that  he  would  praise  anything  and  anybody  to  aid  Hungary. 
There  is  an  instinct  in  the  great  heart  of  humanity  which  not  even  wicked 
ness  kills,  that  no  quality  is  so  fundamental  to  character  as  absolute  loyalty 
to  truth,  it  is  the  base -block  of  the  whole  structure;  and  great  has  been 
many  a  "fall,"  where  there  is  no  better  foundation  than  the  treacherous  and 
shifting  quicksands  of  what  is  called  "policy,"  and  which  is  to  many  the  only 
standard  of  honesty. 

Mr.  Chandler  was  known  in  politics  as  an  enthusiastic  and  radical  advo 
cate  of  his  party  and  its  measures.  It  was  not  in  him  to  do  anything  by 
halves  ,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  why  one  may  not  as  naturally  be  zealous  in 
politics  as  in  religion  ;  in  fact,  none  are  more  likely  to  charge  upon  him  parti 
sanship  than  those  who  in  their  attachment  to  the  opposite  party  shew  their 
own  lack  of  moderation. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  religion  demands  "a  faith,  a  polity  and  a 
party."  The  faith  and  the  polity  belong  to  it  as  necessary  features;  the  party 
is  that  on  which  it  depends  for  organization  and  onward  movement.  There 
is  a  philosophy,  a  political  creed  and  economy,  which  are  to  the  state  what 
religion  is  to  the  church  ;  and  no  man  can  be  a  patriot  without  a  political 


xxxii.  APPENDIX. 

faith  and  polity  and  party  ;  though  he  may  stand  alone,  he  represents  all 
three.  He  may  be  in  the  largest  sense  a  patriot,  and  adopt  the  sublime  motto 
of  Demosthenes,  "Not  father,  nor  mother,  but  dear  native  land!"  yet  his 
patriotism  may  compel  him,  as  he  looks  at  the  matter  of  his  country's  inter 
est,  to  take  a  position  on  the  side  of  a  political  party,  and  to  hold  it  in  the 
face  of  ridicule  and  reproach  and  even  of  a  pelting  hail  of  hate.  Others  may 
not  be  wrong  in  their  espousal  of  a  different  political  creed,  but  he  is  not 
wrong,  but  right,  in  his  honest  adherence  to  his.  It  is  so  in  religion  ;  an 
honest,  intelligent  man  is  loyal  to  his  own  denomination,  yet  is  he  none  the 
less,  because  of  that,  a  Christian  in  the  breadth  of  his  charity. 

In  fact,  religion  is  not  the  only  sphere  where  self  -  sacrifice,  for  duty  and 
for  conscience,  may  be  pressed  even  to  martyrdom.  St.  Ignatius,  facing  the 
wild  beasts  in  the  arena,  calmly  said,  "  I  am  grain  of  God  ;  I  must  be 
ground  between  teeth  of  lions  to  make  bread  for  God's  people."  That  was 
the  grand  confession  of  a  Christian  martyr.  Tell  me,  how  much  lower  down 
in  the  scale  of  the  heroic  does  he  belong  who,  for  the  sake  of  the  best  good 
of  a  constituency  blinded  by  passion  or  prejudice,  like  the  great  English 
statesman,  consents  to  be  hurled  from  his  shrine  as  the  idol  of  the  people, 
and  calmly  says,  "I  am  under  no  obligation  to  be  popular,  but  I  am  under 
bonds  to  myself  to  be  true  !  "  When  Regulus  refused  to  buy  his  own  liberty 
and  life,  at  the  cost  of  Rome's  disgrace,  and  persuaded  the  Senate  to  reject 
the  very  overtures  which  he  was  commissioned  to  convey,  himself  returning 
as  his  pledge  required  him  if  the  negotiations  were  unsuccessful,  and  sur 
rendering  himself  to  the  will  of  his  enemies  that  Carthage  might  put  him  to 
death  by  slow  torture,  it  seems  to  me  something  like  the  martyr  -  spirit  burned 
in  that  bosom.  And,  if"  there  be  nothing  akin  to  moral  martyrdom  in  bravely 
standing  in  one's  place  and  boldly  holding  one's  ground,  advocating  what  one 
believes  to  be  the  only  true  creed  in  politics,  and  the  only  true  policy  for  the 
country,  in  face  of  sneer  and  threat,  daring  the  blade  and  the  bullet,  the 
open  affront  and  the  secret  assault,  for  the  sake  of  being  true  to  one's  self  and 
to  one's  native  land — if  there  be  nothing  sublime  and  heroic  in  all  this,  the 
verdict  of  reason  is  unsound. 

This  lamented  statesman  had  also  a  genial  temper,  which  won  for  him  a 
host  of  friends.  Public  men  are  prone  to  one  of  two  extremes  ;  either  the 
hypocritical  suavity  of  the  demagogue,  or  the  arbitrary  bluntness  and  curtness 
of  the  despot.  Some  swing  away  from  the  fawning  airs  of  the  puppy,  but  it 
is  toward  the  repulsive  manners  of  the  bear.  The  man  who,  as  you  tip  your 
hat  with  a  polite  good  morning,  sweeps  by,  saying,  "I  haven't  time,"  is  too 
often  the  typical  man  of  affairs,  who  thinks  the  quick  dismission  of  appli 
cants  and  intruders  is  the  price  of  all  energetic  public  service.  It  is  said  of 
the  great  French  statesman,  Richelieu,  that  he  could  say  "No,"  so  gracefully 
and  winningly,  that  a  man  once  became  applicant  for  a  position,  upon  which 
lie  had  not  the  least  claim,  just  to  hear  the  great  Cardinal  refuse.  If  com 
mon  testimony  may  be  trusted,  Michigan's  esteemed  Senator  seldom  lost  the 


THE    DORIC    PILLAR    OP    MICHIGAN.  xxxiii. 

hearty  cordiality  and  courtesy  of  his  manners,  even  under  the  fretting  friction 
of  public  cares. 

I  am  tempted  to  add  that,  though  a  representative  Republican,  Mr. 
Chandler, was,  in  the  best  sense,  a  democrat.  He  weighed  a  man  according 
to  the  worth  of  his  manhood.  He  could  recognize  true  manliness  beneath  a 
black  skin  as  well  as  a  white  one,  and  behind  the  rough  dress  of  a  poor  man, 
as  bshind  broadcloth  ;  and,  because  he  was  the  friend  of  humanity  and  of 
human  rights,  you  will  find  some  of  his  warmest  friends  among  the  common 
people  and  in  the  lower  ranks. 

I  think  both  justice  and  generosity  demand  that  among  the  tributes  we 
weave  for  him,  there  should  be  distinct  and  emphatic  mention  of  this  simplicity 
of  character.  He  was  a  man  among  men.  From  the  first,  he  had  none  of  those 
assumptions  of  conscious  superiority  that  mark  the  aristocrat.  If  anything, 
he  was  rather  careless  than  careful  of  his  dignity,  and  would  sooner  shock 
than  mock  the  fastidious  airs  and  tastes  of  those  who  prate  about  culture,  or 
pride  themselves  on  their  "nobility."  Fox  quaintly  said,  of  the  elder  Pitt, 
that  he  ' '  fell  up  stairs  "  when  he  was  elevated  to  the  peerage.  Many  a  man 
cannot  stand  going  up  higher.  He  becomes  haughty,  proud  ;  he  affects  dig 
nity,  he  lords  it  over  God's  heritage,  he  becomes  too  big  with  conscious 
superiority.  Like  Jeshurun,  he  waxes  fat  and  kicks.  He  falls  up  stairs,  if  not 
down. 

The  warm,  soft,  genial  side  of  Mr.  Chandler's  nature  was  unveiled  in 
social  life  and  most  of  all  in  the  domestic  circle.  The  play  of  his  smile,  the 
roar  of  his  laughter,  the  delicacy  and  tenderness  of  his  sympathy,  his  stalwart 
defense  of  those  whom  he  loved,  the  childlike  traits  that  drew  him  to 
children  and  drew  children  to  him,  none  appreciate  as  do  those  who  knew 
him  best  as  friend,  husband  and  father.  The  man  of  public  affairs,  he  could 
lay  one  hand  firmly  on  the  helm  of  state,  while  with  the  other  he  fondly 
pressed  his  grandchildren  to  his  bosom,  or  playfully  roused  them  to  childish 
glee. 

This  aspect  of  his  many-sided  character  makes  his  death  an  irreparable 
loss  to  his  own  household.  Even  the  great  grief  of  a  nation  cannot 'represent 
by  its  "extensity,"  the  intensity  of  the  more  private  sorrow  that  secludes 
itself  from  the  public  eye.  He  was,  to  those  whom  he  specially  loved,  both 
a  tower  for  strength,  and  a  lover  and  friend  for  comfort  and  sympathy. 
Those  who  were  "at  home"  with  him,  and  especially  those  who  were  the 
peculiar  treasures  of  his  heart,  knew  him  as  no  others  could.  Happy  is  the 
minister  who  forgets  not  his  parish  at  home  —  the  church  that  is  in  his  own 
nouse  —  and  happy  is  the  public  man,  whose  private  life  is  not  simply  the 
revelation  of  the  hard,  coarse  and  unattractive  side  of  his  character. 

That  is  I  am  sure  no  ordinary  occurrence,  which  has  made  forever  memo 
rable  the  Calends  of  this  November.  Death,  however  frequent  and  familiar 
by  frequency,  can  never,  to  the  thoughtful,  be  an  event  of  common  magni 
tude  ;  the  exchange  of  worlds  cannot  be  other  than  a  most  august  experience. 


xxxiv.  APPENDIX. 

But  this  death  has  about  it  colossal  proportions  ;  it  stands  out  and  apart  like 
a  mountain  in  a  landscape.  It  is  recognized  as  a  calamity  not  only  to  a 
household,  but  to  the  city,  the  State,  the  Nation  ;  and  it  may  be  doubted 
whether,  since  the  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  any  single  announcement 
has  so  startled  the  public  mind  and  moved  the  popular  heart  as  when  on  the 
1st  day  of  November  it  was  announced  that  Zachariah  Chandler  was  found 
sleeping  his  last  sleep. 

Ulysses  S.  Grant  is  a  man  of  few  words  —  and  like  his  shot  and  shell 
they  weigh  a  good  deal  and  are  well  aimed.  Let  us  hear  his  verdict  on  Mr. 
Chandler  : 

"A  nation,  as  well  as  the  State  of  Michigan,  mourns  the  loss  of  one  of 
"her  most  brave,  patriotic  and  truest  citizens.  Senator  Chandler  was  beloved 
"  l)y  his  associates  and  respected  by  those  who  disagreed  with  his  political 
"views.  The  more  closely  I  became  connected  with  him  the  more  I  appro 
"ciated  his  great  merits.  U.  S.  GRANT. 

"GALENA,    III,    NOV.    9,    1879." 

It  is  evident  that  it  is  no  ordinary  man  who  has  departed  from  among 
us.  It  is  not  "a  self-evident  truth  that  all  men  are  created  equal,"  if  we 
mean  equality  of  gifts  and  graces,  capacity,  opportunity  or  even  responsibility; 
and  the  people  of  these  United  States  do  not  need  to  be  told  that  Mr.  Chand 
ler  was  no  common  man.  It  was  by  no  accident  that  he  held  in  succession, 
and  filled  with  success,  posts  of  such  importance  and  trusts  of  such  magni 
tude.  He  did  not  drift  into  prominence  ;  he  rose  by  sheer  force  of  character 
and  by  the  fitness  of  things.  Born  to  be  a  leader,  endowed  with  those  quali 
ties  that  mark  a  man  destined  to  leadership,  having  rare  business  faculty,  and 
sagacity,  tact  and  talent,  large  capacity  for  organization  and  administration, 
his  hand  was  naturally  at  the  helm. 

Mr.  Chandler's  leadership  reached  beyond  and  beneath  the  visible  conduct 
of  affairs.  As  Moses  was  the  inspiration,  of  which  Aaron  was  the  expression, 
he  was  often  the  power  behind  the  throne.  He  who  has  now  left  us,  forever, 
belonged  to  the  illustrious  few  who  were  the  special  counselors  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  the  instigators  of  many  of  his  wisest  and  best  measures  There  -  is  an 
inner  history  of  the  war  which  has  never  been  written  and  never  will  be. 
The  lips  that  alone  could  disclose  those  secrets  are  fast  closing  in  eternal 
silence,  and  the  scroll  will  find  no  man  worthy  to  loose  its  seals. 

Mr.  Chandler  could  not  have  been  wholly  ignorant  of  the  risk  he  ran  in 
his  laborious  and  prolonged  campaign  -  work  ;  but  when  his  country  seemed  in 
peril  his  tongue  could  not  keep  silence.  Just  before  starting  on  his  last  jour 
ney  westward,  he  said  to  me:  "In  my  judgment  the  crisis  now  upon  us  is 
"more  important  than  any  since  Lee  surrendered,  and  as  grave  as  any  since 
' '  Sumter  was  fired  on. "  Those  who  knew  him  best  will  not  be  surprised  that, 
with  such  an  impression  of  the  magnitude  of  the  issues  now  before  the 
American  people,  he  could  not  spare  himself,  but  gave  himself  without  reserve 
1o  liis  country,  sacrificing  his  life  itself  on  the  altar  of  his  own  patriotism. 


THE    DORIC    PILLAR    OF    MICHIGAN.  xxxv. 

And  so  our  stalwart  statesman  lias  fallen,  and  we  have  a  new  lesson  on 
human  mortality.  Anaxagoras,  when  told  that  the  Athenians  had  condemned 
him  to  die,  calmly  added,  "And  nature,  them!"  All  our  riches,  honors,  dig 
nities  cannot  stay  the  steps  of  the  great  destroyer.  The  manliest  and  mightiest 
leaders,  and  the  humblest  and  meanest  followers  bow  alike  to  the  awful  man 
date  of  death.  And  as  Massilon  said  at  the  funeral  of  the  Grand  Monarch, 
'  God  only  is  great !  " 

Of  how  little  consequence  after  all  are  all  the  things  that  perish.  Tem 
poral  things  derive  all  their  true  value  from  their  connection  with  the  invisible 
and  eternal.  How  small  will  all  appear  as  they  recede  into  the  dim  distance 
at  the  dying  hour  and  the  world  to  come  confronts  us  with  its  awful  decisions 
of  destiny  !  What  grandeur  and  glory  are  imparted  to  our  humblest  sphere 
of  service,  here,  when  touched  and  transformed  by  the  power  of  an  endless 
life  ! 

We  have  reason  to  be  glad  that  the  popular  recognition  of  Mr.  Chandler's 
abilities  and  services  has  been  so  prompt  and  hearty  as  to  afford  him  not  a 
little  satisfaction.  Posthumous  tributes  are  sometimes  melancholy  memorials, 
reminding  us  of  the  monumental  sepulchres  of  martyr  -  prophets. 

Robert  Burns's  mother  said  about  his  monument,  as  she  bitterly  remem 
bered  how  the  poet  of  Ayr  had  been  left  to  starve,  "Ah,  Robbie,  ye  asked 
them  for  bread  and  they  hae  ge'en  ye  a  stane  ! "  It  can  never  be  said  that 
our  departed  Senator  had  to  wait  for  another  generation  to  pronounce  a  just 
or  generous  verdict  upon  his  career  ;  the  trophies  of  victory  and  of  popular 
esteem  were  strewn  along  the  whole  line  of  his  march  ;  and  his  last  tour  of 
the  Northwest  was  a  perpetual  ovation. 

There  is  to  my  mind  no  little  inspiration  of  comfort  in  the  fact  that  not 
even  human  malice  can  falsify  history.  Men  sometimes  get  more  than  their 
share  of  praise  or  of  blame  while  they  live  ;  but  sooner  or  later  the  cloud  of 
incense  or  the  mist  of  prejudice  clears  away  and  the  real  character  is  more 
plainly  seen.  We  can  afford  to  leave  the  final  verdict  to  another  generation 
if  need  be,  grateful  as  it  is  to  be  appreciated  by  the  generation  which  we 
seek  to  serve. 

But  it  is  still  more  inspiring  to  know  that  God  rules  this  world,  and 
reigns  over  the  affairs  of  men.  If  He  marks  the  flight  and  the  fall  of  the 
sparrow,  we  may  be  sure  that  no  man  rises  to  the  scat  of  power  or  sinks  to 
the  grave  without  His  permission. 

God  is  not  dead,  and  cannot  die.  Generations  pass  away  while  He 
remains  the  same.  His  hand  is  on  the  helm,  whatever  human  hand  seems  to 
have  hold,  and  is  still  there  when  the  most  trusted  helmsman  relaxes  his 
dying  grasp.  If  God's  hand  is  not  in  our  history,  all  its  records  are  mislead 
ing,  and  all  its  course  a  mystery.  Admit  the  divine  factor,  and,  from  the 
strange  unveiling  of  this  hidden  Western  world  until  this  day,  our  national 
life  appears  like  one  colossal  crystal  ;  it  has  unity,  transparency  and  symmetry. 
We  can  understand  Plymouth  Rock,  the  revolution,  the  French  and  Indian 


xxxvi  APPENDIX. 

wars,  the  war  of  1812,  the  great  rebellion,  the  Kansas  problem  amd  the  Cali 
fornia  problem,  the  Indian  question  and  the  Chinese  question,  Romanism  and 
Communism,  Eastern  conservatism  and  Western  radicalism,  the  freedmen  and 
the  emigrant,  state  rights  and  national  sovereignty — all  are  the  subordinate 
factors  whose  harmonizing,  reconciling,  assimilating  factor  is  the  divine  pur 
pose  and  plan  in  our  history.  My  friends,  the  republic  has  a  divine  destiny 
to  fulfill.  The  Great  Pilot  is  steering  the  ship  of  state  for  her  true  haven. 
Scylla  threatens  on  one  side,  Charbydis  on  the  other  ;  but  He  knows  the 
channel.  The  stormy  Euroclydon  may  strike  her,  tear  her  sails  to  tatters  and 
snap  her  ropes  like  burnt  tow,  and  splinter  her  masts  to  fragments  ;  but  He 
holds  the  winds  in  his  fists.  Let  us  not  fear.  We  have  only  to  love,  trust 
and  obey  the  God  of  our  Fathers  and  He  will  guide  us  safely  and  surely 
through  all  darkness  and  danger  The  sins  that  reproach  our  people  are  the 
only  foes  we  have  to  fear  ;  the  righteousness  that  exalts  a  nation  the  only  ally 
we  need  to  covet.  If  the  people  of  Michigan  would  rear  a  grand  monument 
to  the  heroic  men  who  have  adorned  our  history,  let  us  be  true  to  the  princi 
ples  which  they  have  defended,  and  to  the  God  who  gave  them  to  us  as  His 
instruments. 

The  DORIC  PILLAR  OF  MICHIGAN  has  fallen  ;  but  the  State  stands,  and 
G  >d  can  set  another  pillar  in  its  place.  There  is  stone  in  the  quarry  —  col 
umns  are  taking  shape  to  -  day  in  our  homes  and  schools  and  churches  ;  and 
in  God's  time  they  shall  be  raised  to  their  place.  Let  us  only  be  sure  that  in 
the  shrine  of  our  nation  God  finds  a  throne,  and  not  the  idols  of  this  world, 
and  not  even  the  earthquake  shock  shall  shatter  the  symmetric  structure  of 
the  Republic. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


v 


__ 


DEC  2  4  1961 


D  LD 

DEC  11  196' 


JEC'D  CIRC  DEPT 


JUN 


L/A 


LD  21-50m-8,'57 
(,C8481slO)476 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

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